BIBLE PASSAGE:
Those who disregard discipline despise themselves,
but the one who heeds correction gains understanding.
(Proverbs 15:32)
MEDITATION:
Do you have an addiction to some sin that will just not ‘go away’?
It impacts your entire life, doesn’t it? Whenever bad things happen
in your life, you immediately equate it to the sin you have been
struggling (maybe desperately) to overcome.
You think that you deserve whatever you are going through because
you have failed to obey the Lord’s commands. Whenever you have
a choice to yield to the sin again, or to break the chains that bind you,
your mind tells you, “You’ve already failed countless times, so what
difference does one more failure make?”
How do you think God feels about you? He has made it abundantly
clear that He is a loving God who wants the best for you. He created
a salvation plan for you so that you could spend eternity with Him.
God does not want anyone to perish for failing to repent of their
sins. He wants us to commit to following Jesus (which includes allowing
God to use us as part of His earthly ministry to reach the lost).
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,
as some understand slowness. Instead he is
patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
If God loves you so much that He would sacrifice His only Son
so that you could choose to spend eternity with Him, then doesn’t
it make sense that He would want to help you break the chains of
whatever sin you are battling in your life?
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and
only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because they have not believed in the name of God’s one
and only Son. (John 3:16-18)
Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son,
so the Lord your God disciplines you. (Deuteronomy 8:5)
If we know that God wants to help us break free from the sin that
so easily entangles us, then we should understand that He might
use any number of methods to assist us in overcoming the sin
that is dominating and ruining our life.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud
of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and
the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with
perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes
on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set
before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and
sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider
him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that
you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Some of the unpleasant things in our life might be God’s fatherly
efforts to help us break the chains of a particular sin, so that we
can become the person He wants us to be.
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted
to the point of shedding your blood. And have you
completely forgotten this word of encouragement that
addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
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 12:4-6)
So, the question you may ask yourself is,
“If God is trying to help me in my struggle with sin,
how should I react to any discipline my heavenly
Father (including things with the potential of causing
me to become distraught and possibly depressed)?”
The scriptures provide advice for this question.
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his
children. For what children are not disciplined by their
father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes
discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and
daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers
who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much
more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They
disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God
disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his
holiness. 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 12:7-11)
We can see from this scripture that we when receive discipline from
God it can serve as our assurance that we belong to Him – He is our
heavenly Father. As a child, even though we received discipline
from our earthly parents (which we did not enjoy), we knew they
were trying to help us to discipline ourselves. We understood this
much better as we grew older, but not so much at the time we were
being punished.
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)
“Blessed is the one whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.”
(Job 5:17)
My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke. (Proverbs 3:11)
We know that we need boundaries in our lives in order to maintain
stability. Our loving Heavenly Father knows it too, and He creates
those boundaries for us so that we can live a self-controlled life with
a desire to please Him.
As a result of His love, He keeps a short leash on those He loves so
that He can give us a gentle tug whenever we begin to stray from
the path He has created for us, and to give us a hard yank whenever
we are rebellious to His gentle tugs as we try to stray even farther
from His guidelines.
ACTION:
As long as we focus on our past failures, we will not only live
a discouraging life, but when temptation knocks on our door,
we will quickly open it because a familiar guest is there. He
is sly and cunning, but our Heavenly Father is greater than
all of the evil one’s plans and schemes to create despair and
discouragement in our lives.
Rather than remaining in denial, admit that there is some
sinful area that you struggle with and victory over it can
seem hopeless at times. Don’t try to justify your sin, but
take it to your Father who loves you; confess it and ask
God to help you in your efforts to have victory over it.
In summary, how do we deal with the Lord’s discipline?
We should be grateful that He loves us enough to help
us in the areas where we are weak. We should be thankful
that His discipline assures us that we belong to Him.
We know that without His presence (and discipline) in our
life, we are at the mercy of ungodly influences which will
contribute to our misery and cause a separation in our
fellowship with our Heavenly Father.
We realize His discipline is helping us to develop better
self-control. From reading His Word, we know that His
discipline is confirmation of His love for us and His
desire to see us enjoy an enjoyable life under control.
God can help us to stop focusing on the failures of our past,
and to look forward to our future victories (with the help of
the Holy Spirit He has given us).
Pray,
“Even though it is unpleasant for me at the time, thank
You Father for the discipline You use to help me with
my struggles to pursue righteousness and for assuring
me that You love me as a child of Yours. I pray that
You will help me discover the spiritual gift You have
given me, and to use it to serve You and be a part of Your
earthly ministry. Thank You for keeping me on a short
leash to You can remind me whenever I am straying from
Your guidelines for staying on the path You have created
especially for me. I love You as my Heavenly Father and
I thank You for loving me so much that You gave Your
Son to be a sacrifice for me. Thank You for the Holy
Spirit You have given me to help me navigate a sinful
world as a follower of Your Son, Jesus.”
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