Goodness in Discipline

 Hebrews 12:1-13

1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.

3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart. 4 In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or faint when you are reproved by Him, 6 for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives.

7 Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness. 11 No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.

When a parent uses negative consequences in disciplining a son or daughter, the child might think, If you really loved me, you wouldn’t ground me. And the truth is, we often feel the same way when God disciplines us. But like any loving human parent, God has a goal of helping us grow. As today’s passage in Hebrews says, discipline doesn’t feel good initially; it hurts. Yet if we learn to accept and be trained by it, our lives will be transformed and bear fruit.

Unfortunately, we sometimes mistake God’s discipline for punishment, especially when we’re distracted or consumed with busyness. It’s easier to consider that discipline a blessing if we’re looking for the big picture of how God works in our life. But instead, we often complain, “If You were good to me, You wouldn’t do this or that” and, as a result, completely miss out on what He is doing.

In Psalm 23:6, when David writes, “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,” he is expressing that God’s blessings are present with us every day we are alive. The Lord pours out His goodness upon us—in our trials just as much as in our ease and comfort. Let’s pray for eyes to see those blessings and evidence of God’s good character and purposes.