To discipline someone often means to train, correct, guide, or teach them in order to help them develop good character and proper behaviour.
I believe most of us are quite familiar with the many strokes and punishments we received during childhood in the name of discipline. Some were quite painful, others may have hurt more than we would like to remember. Whatever form it took, the intention was always to instil good character. Those strokes were given in the hope that the pain would serve as a reminder, keeping us from repeating whatever wrong we had done.
And if the Lord disciplines us as a man would his son, what does it look like? Could there be strokes here as too ?
“Know then in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.”— Deuteronomy 8:5
“My son, do not make light of the discipline of the Lord and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”— Hebrews 12:5–6; Proverbs 3:11–12
Looking through these Scriptures, we see that God’s correction is a sign of His love. He disciplines us because of the great love He has for you and me. It is meant to build us up in the most holy faith and develop in us the character that will enable us to share in His holiness.
For to walk with the Lord is to walk in His footsteps, to be holy just as He is holy. And because, in our own human nature, holiness can be quite difficult to pursue apart from the Lord, we need to be trained, guided, and taught to walk in His ways.
But God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness.” — Hebrews 12:10
As I sought to understand God’s discipline more, I came across simple pointers that I desired to share;
First, The Lord sets us certain guidelines to follow or guides us to observe certain behaviours (God’s laws and decrees).And this He does through His scriptures, where He poured out His spirit through the hands of men that we may be equipped. This is seen more clearly in the many laws that governed the way of life of the Israelites. The Lord’s desire, through these laws was that His chosen people may live rightfully and commune with Him.
“For what other nation is as great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?” — Deuteronomy 4:8
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work -2 Timothy 3:16-17
God’s discipline also involves reproof, through which He corrects disobedience. We see this throughout Scripture, where the Lord would bring judgment upon the Israelites when they walked in disobedience. Like many of us, they may have thought that pursuing their own desires apart from the Lord would do them good.
Remember Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? The fruit appeared good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom. Yet, in choosing to disobey God, they found themselves living outside the fellowship they had once enjoyed with Him.
And so, in disciplining His people, the Lord would allow them to experience the consequences of their sins and at other times bring judgment upon them, through exile and the like, to remind them of the way He had called them to live.
Truth be told, neither aspect of this discipline is easy. For it is not by our own strength that we are able to walk in righteousness, it is the Lord who works in us, transforming us to become more like Him.And still, it is not by our own strength that we are able to return to the Lord when we have walked in disobedience. It is by His grace and mercy , through the forgiveness of our sins at the cross, He has made a way for us to come back to Him and once again dine with Him.
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” — Hebrews 12:11.
In whatever way the Lord chooses to train us, we can be assured that He does so out of love, for we are His children. His discipline is meant to strengthen our faith and purify us from sin.
Hebrews 12:6
“The Lord disciplines the one he loves and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
~ Gift
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