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Like most of us, as a child I never liked to be disciplined by my parents and would try my best to meet their expectations for good behavior so I could avoid it. My dad didn’t play. The discipline of the military was a prominent characteristic in his manner, and he had little patience for what he viewed as foolishness. He was more patient with things where it was clear we didn’t know better. But for the things on which we had been schooled and knew the right way to go—but chose not to, excuses were pointless and we knew it. Today, my gratitude for the discipline we learned from our parents is immeasurable, and I have to contrast it to our current climate, where even a harsh word to our own children can put a parent in legal jeopardy.
Discipline is training. It’s the practice of teaching people to follow rules and codes of a certain behavior. We’ve relegated discipline below its appropriate place on our priorities because sometimes discipline involves an element of what we perceive as punishment. It can be punitive, and diminish a privilege or something we might enjoy. There’s a sacrifice associated with discipline, and most of us don’t like this.
1John 4:18(NLT) tells us, “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” Somehow, we have picked up from this piece of razor-sharp truth that love expels punishment, and that is not what this truth represents. It tells us that the FEAR of punishment demonstrates that we are not fully mature in God’s perfect love. Only a person that does the wrong thing will fear punishment, because only wrong things are punished. This is why the knowledge of God’s righteousness is so important, because it is the standard by which we judge good and bad, light and darkness, love and fear, and right and wrong.
God’s Word trains us in Godliness. 2Timothy 3:16 (NKJV) tells us, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” God Word tells us the truth! It tells us where we’ve gone wrong, exposes our motivation for the wrong we’ve done, corrects us, and trains us to live in the Lord’s way. God’s Word makes us prepared to do the tasks He’s assigned to us. When we fall into error and veer away from the truth, we’re in sin, and sin is the enemy’s territory. Sin is the place that punishment calls ‘home’. We have nothing to fear about punishment unless we’re in sin.
This is one of the reasons it’s important to teach our children about the righteousness of God, and how important living a disciplined Christian life is going to be to their overall success and happiness in life. God wants the absolute best for us, and the things that He tells us to do are good for us.
God’s divine discipline is one of the beautiful ways in which He proves His love for His children. He’s a God of integrity, and He wants us to be as well. He states in Hebrews 12:7-11 (MSG):
“In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?
My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.”
Discipline as it relates to our body-temples has become a very challenging area for many single women. They view making the right decisions according to God’s Word as a sacrifice that will not be rewarded. In truth, it’s a sacrifice that lands us on glorious footing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Giving up immediate pleasure to the flesh will give us the spiritual benefits of a long-term quality marriage with a quality partner. If we make the wrong decisions from a lack of discipline, correction won’t be enjoyable. It will feel like punishment, but it should teach us to lean on the Holy Spirit and make better choices.
God’s discipline proves His love for us, because it helps us to be all that He wants His children to be. He wants us to stand out from among those who don’t know Him, so that our example will light a path for them to His goodness. Having the kind of behavior that glorifies His Kingdom makes us a blessing to our family, friends, communities, co-workers, and to the entire body of Christ. So let’s strive to be examples of Godliness all the time.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“God’s Discipline Proves His Love” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2018. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
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