Discipline

Proverbs 13:23 – “Those who love their children care enough to discipline them”
God disciples us because He loves us and He wants to see us grow.

“My advice to you is this: Go to God and present your case to Him… But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the chastening the Almighty when you sin. For though He wounds, He also bandages. He strikes, but His hands also heal… We have found from experience that all this is true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.” (see Job 5:8, 17-18,27)

Here’s a great excerpt I found today from “1 Minute Bible”:
A Father’s Discipline

After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. And have you entirely forgotten the encouraging words of God spoke to you, His children? He said, “My child, don’t ignore it when the Lord disciplines you, and don’t be discouraged when He corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes those He accepts as His children.”

As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as His own children. Whoever heard of a child who was never disciplined? If God doesn’t discipline you as He does all of His children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really His children after all. Since we respect our earthly fathers who discipline us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever?

For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in His holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening – it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. (see Hebrews 12:4-11)

Related Bible verses: Deuteronomy 8:5; 1 Samuel 2:12-36; Proverbs 3:11-12; 15:5; Revelation 3:14-20

Something to note: Discipline can be seen as to punish or to correct. In this context we are referring to how He corrects us. God’s discipline is to move us forward, toward maturity so that we might be holier. God loves us so much that He wants us to gain understanding and celebrate life.

My challenge for this group today is that we become even more open to God’s correction through reading God’s Word, listening to the Holy Spirit, and learning from other Christians.

May your day be blessed!
<3 Shannon