LOVING DISCIPLINE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son He delights in.

Proverbs 3:11-12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The first grade class was having a great time. There was lots of disorder with kids running around and playing with each other. The noise they made only reinforced the fact that they were enjoying themselves a great deal. One child was relishing the moment so much that they had gotten up on top of their desk, rising well above the classmates who were carrying on below.

And then the teacher entered the room.

Needless to say, the teacher was not happy, even if it was the last day of the school year. She knew the kids were excited about the coming summer but the behavior in the classroom was not what she expected and certainly not what she had worked so hard to control during the year. She was upset but she decided to give the class a pass and chalked it up to the thrill of their first school year coming to an end.

Correction. She gave everyone in the class a pass except for the child who had gotten up on their desk, a transgression she was unwilling to forgive. As she had done through the entire year, she would mete out discipline for actions that needed correction, actions that violated the rules and standards she had established and the child on top of the desk had crossed over that line.

I was that child.

And so while the rest of my classmates enjoyed popcorn, other treats, and special drinks, I was made to stand on my desk in the back of the classroom so I could have a good view of all the fun everyone else was having, the fun I could have been having too had I not gotten so out of hand.

This was one of many instances when I was disciplined in life when I was growing up. The school discipline subsided, with the exception of Mrs. Gibson who smacked me on the top of the head with a ruler once for talking to someone in class while she was teaching, but the parental discipline I received was consistent.

I will be honest with you. I hated discipline. I despised it and often times, I didn’t understand it. In fact, it wasn’t until I grew into adulthood and became a father myself, that I realized why my teachers and parents were so bent on correcting me.

They did it because they loved me.

That just didn’t register with me when I was younger. Consequences equal love? Huh?

Maybe if I had known about these two verses from Proverbs, Chapter 3, I might have understood a little better, even if I still didn’t like it.

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son He delights in.

My father, mother, teachers, and other care providers delighted in me. They cherished me so much that they wanted me to grow up to be the best man that I could be. And so they disciplined and rebuked and rendered penalties where warranted because they treasured me and weren’t willing to stand by and allow me to learn that wrong was right. In doing so, they helped teach me how to love my own children through discipline, something I did even though they, like me, did not like the correction or understand it. My prayer is that today, they, like me, understand that it was all done out of love.

You see, genuine discipline isn’t rendered because the disciplinarian loves the recipient less. No, it’s rendered because he or she loves them more.

This is the essence of discipline as the Lord intends it. The word discipline actually means to teach although many think it means punishment.

Discipline as the Lord intends and as the Lord delivers is to be done out of love. Indeed, God doesn’t discipline us because He loves us less but because He loves us more. He longs for us to live in the joy and peace that righteousness and holiness bring and he is unwilling to allow us to fall victim to sin and the wicked living it leads to.

As adults, we are all still children, children who have an eternal Father who watches over us, cares for us, protects us, and yes, disciplines us when we need it. When correction comes, we should embrace it, receive it gladly, and give thanks for it.

For it has been and always will be a sign that God loves you.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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