Discipline is not enjoyable, from either side. When we as parents are forced to discipline our children, it is not something we relish doing. How much we would rather have everything be good and pleasant, but this just isn't the case. Children must be disciplined; they must be trained in the way they should go. Left to their own devices, the likelihood of them going bad grows. This is the cause of much trouble in the world, that more than a few parents just don't discipline their children. People who say, "You must let children make their own decisions", or "You must reason with children", or "You mustn't spank children", forget that you have to train a child to refuse evil, and to choose good. This is why they have parents, to, "bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."[1]
"For those whom the Lord loves, He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives."[2]
"But if you are without discipline ... then you
are illegitimate children and not sons."[3]
The Lord disciplines every Christian at some time or another; none of us are perfect. These will not be enjoyable times. Remember when we were kids, and our parents spanked us or grounded us? We would rather have been just about anywhere else at that particular moment. Discipline is just not pleasant. The writer of Hebrews calls it "sorrowful."[4] But pain and sorrow are very effective teachers:
1. They get our full attention.
2. We desire very much to put an end to both.
What child, burning his hand on a stove, soon afterwards puts his hand back on it? The pain teaches him that putting your hand on a hot stove is not a good thing to do. Yet the pain is there for his benefit, otherwise the heat would have destroyed his hand. Likewise, none of us know the way to heaven without Jesus. He leads us in the way that we should go; yet we all wander off the path now and then, and there are things that we have yet to learn.
All sin is an affront to God. And yet instead of destroying us, He takes us by the hand, as it were, and disciplines us as children, that we might share in His holiness; furthermore, He is the Master Disciplinarian. For as David spoke, "Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man."[5] The Lord knows exactly what we require in the way of discipline, and performs it perfectly, with great mercy, "For they (our earthly fathers) disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness."[6]
"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the
Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him..."[7]
We must take care to maintain a proper attitude towards discipline. We must be careful not to think, "I have endured this, I will go on my way", paying little or no attention to what the Lord has taught us. We do well to take heed, for He who installs kings, and deposes them, and establishes nations, and brings them to an end, is the One who disciplines us as a Father. Should we pay little or no attention to a lesson from our Creator?
Conversely, we must also not be overtaken by grief, for He disciplines us because He loves us. Don't we discipline our children so that they might lead a better life? "I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly."[8]
"And every branch that bears fruit, He
prunes it, that it may bear more fruit."[9]
There are things in our lives which are not helpful to our walk with the Lord, and are in fact hurtful; draining off energy, dividing our attention, etc., just as unfruitful parts of a plant only use up nutrients, without any "return", so to speak. As with a plant, these things are pruned out of our lives, that we might be more effective in His kingdom.
"All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet
to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful
fruit of righteousness."[10]
Discipline is never pleasant, yet it is for our own good. The Lord loves us dearly, and wants the best for us. For Paul this meant a thorn in the flesh, to keep him humble, and on the right track, so that he might attain eternal life, the object of the race we run.
Discipline may come to correct a problem in our lives, or to prevent a problem from developing; yet this much is certain, it will come. Yet how much comfort there is in the knowledge that the One who disciplines us, loves us dearly.
Endnotes
[1] Ephesians 6:4
[2] Hebrews 12:6
[3] Hebrews 12:8
[4] Hebrews 12:11
[5] 2 Samuel 24:14
[6] Hebrews 12:10
[7] Hebrews 12:5
[8] John 10:10
[9] John 15:2
[10] Hebrews 12:11