August 9, 2021 8:00 pm
She slammed the door. She slammed the door again. I went to the garage, grabbed a hammer and a screwdriver, and walked to my daughter’s room. Calmly, I whispered, “Sweetheart. You have to learn to control your temper.” And then I removed her door from the hinges, and carried it to the garage. My hope was that removing the door would help her remember the importance of self-control.
In Proverbs 3:11–12, the wise teacher invites readers to accept God’s discipline. The word discipline, could be translated, “correction.” As a good and loving Father, God speaks through His Spirit and the Scriptures to correct self-destructive behavior. God’s discipline is relational—rooted in His love and His desire for what’s best for us. Sometimes God’s discipline looks like consequences. Sometimes God prompts someone to point out our blind spots. Often, it’s uncomfortable, but God’s discipline is a gift.
But we don’t always see it that way. The wise man cautions, “do not despise the Lord’s discipline.” Sometimes we fear God’s discipline. At other times we misinterpret bad things in our lives as God’s discipline. This is far from the heart of a loving Father who disciplines because He delights and corrects because He loves.
Instead of fearing God’s discipline, may we learn to accept it. When we hear God’s voice of correction in our hearts, or experience conviction when reading Scripture, may we thank God that He delights in us enough to lead us to what’s best.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Living on the Edge
Chip Ingram
Focus on the Family
Jim Daly
Family Life Today
Dave & Ann Wilson, Bob Lepine
Grace To You
John MacArthur
Truth for Life
Alistair Begg
Our American Stories
Lee Habeeb
Welcome to today's devotion from Our Daily Bread Ministries, titled A Love That Disciplines.
I'm Daniel Ryan Day. When I took a family studies class in college, we were asked to write a family history, a record of the key events that make up one's childhood. This included the patterns that characterize typical family life and the methods of discipline we experienced. We all had at least one instance of a parent misapplying discipline and leaving an emotional or physical scar. Understandably, traumatic experiences like these may affect the way we interpret our Heavenly Father's discipline, too. In Proverbs 3, verses 11-12, the wise teacher invites readers to accept God's discipline.
The word discipline could be translated correction. As a good and loving father, God speaks through His Spirit and the Scriptures to correct self-destructive behavior. God's discipline is relational, rooted in His love and in His desire for what's best for us.
Sometimes it looks like consequences. Sometimes God prompts someone to point out our blind spots. Oftentimes it's uncomfortable, but God's discipline is a gift.
But we don't always see it that way, do we? The wise man cautioned, do not despise the Lord's discipline. Sometimes we fear God's discipline. At other times, we misinterpret the bad things that happen in our lives as God's discipline.
This is far from the heart of a loving father who disciplines because he delights in us and corrects because he loves us. Instead of fearing God's discipline, may we learn to accept it. When we hear God's voice of correction in our hearts or experience conviction when reading the Scriptures, may we thank God that He delights in us enough to lead us to what's best. Today's scripture reading comes from Proverbs chapter 3 verses 11 through 12. 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. Let's pray. God, help us to recognize Your discipline. Help us to recognize the way that Your correction leads to new life in us for Your glory, the good of the world, and for our good. Amen.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-09-16 16:15:22 / 2023-09-16 16:16:42 / 1
