The Purpose of Discipline
Hebrews 12:4-15
"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)
Are there any words in Scripture more readily agreed with than "No discipline seems pleasant at the time"? Whether it's a spanking to improve behavior or a diet to improve the waistline, who likes the discipline when it is happening? The word translated "discipline" can also mean physical "training," the metaphor the Hebrews author uses.
Several students at the high school where I teach are on the track team and are beginning training for the season. Most of them are sore, tired, and grumpy. Some already talk of quitting, saying the training is just too hard. But one young man, Cliff, has a different attitude. He admits the training is difficult, yet he looks forward to it. Why? Because he hopes to go to college on a track scholarship and knows the training is necessary if he is to stand a chance at reaching his goal.
God's "goal" in disciplining us is "that we might share in his holiness" (v.10). Our training is sure to involve hardship. Let's fix our eyes on our front-runner, Jesus, who endured the discipline of the cross for us.
INSIGHT
"THANK YOU FOR PUTTING ME IN YOUR 'TRAINING PROGRAM' AND FOR JESUS WHO ALREADY ENDURED AND CONQUERED IT FOR ME!"
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
1 Chronicles 4-5
Proverbs 26
Revelation 6-7
Hebrews 12:4-15
New International Version (NIV)
God Disciplines His Children
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 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,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline —then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 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! 10 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. 11 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.
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,”[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Warning and Encouragement
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Footnotes:a.Hebrews 12:6 Prov. 3:11,12 (see Septuagint)
b.Hebrews 12:13 Prov. 4:26
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