Benefits of Discipline in the Bible
“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: 5,6.
Feeling Vexed
One day, a while back, as I was trying to pray, I was feeling vexed instead of prayerful. A man I knew had recently divorced his wife and married the “young skirt” he had an affair with.
To read this chapter in Hebrews for context, click here.
It bothered me because they seemed to be getting away with it without consequences. He was still as successful as he had been. He still held a prestigious position with his company and made a lot of money.
And she got to enjoy it all right along with him. I found myself resenting the apparent injustice of it all.
Of course, there are the eternal consequences of unrepentant sin. But then it suddenly occurred to me that to get away with bad behavior is no blessing in this life either.
To not have consequences for sin is not a gift even in the here and now.
An Undisciplined Child Not Happy
You don’t have to look any further than an undisciplined child to see this. A child who is not properly trained and lacking consistent consequences for bad behavior is not blessed.
And they are not happy either.
That child will not know how to conduct himself as an adult- in relationships, on his job, or any other situation in life.
He will be immature and unhealthy emotionally. He will not be capable of leading a productive, fulfilling life.
His own foolish choices will ruin his life. And the real tragedy is, he probably won’t even see it. He will blame his failure on something or someone outside himself.
So, to not have consequences for bad behavior is no blessing. That’s why this passage tells us the Lord disciplines those He LOVES. And chastens everyone He ACCEPTS as a SON.
This is just as true for adults as children. We all know adults who are immature and act in childish ways.
And this means they’re in need of discipline or training. And this comes in the form of consequences.
The Benefits of Discipline According to the Bible
So, if in fact, the couple mentioned above have not had consequences, they will continue on in their foolishness and immaturity in this area.
Which means they will eventually end up repeating their foolishness. But even if they don’t, foolishness and immaturity is its own consequence. It always makes us miserable in the end.
Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not the tangible, physical, external things that make us happy. Maturity is what makes us content.
To be mature is to walk in love. And to the degree we walk in love, to that degree will we have joy.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law “Galatians 5: 22,23.
I believe there is one fruit of the Spirit (love) and everything else on the list is a characteristic of love. Notice, Paul uses the word fruit (singular) rather than fruits. Hence, joy is a characteristic of love. But I digress.
So, the misery that stems from immaturity will prevent them from leading a productive, fulfilling life. At the very least, in the area of romantic relationships.
It’s not what we have that makes us happy. Only maturity(love) can do that. And if we don’t experience consequences for bad behavior, we won’t mature or be happy.
Remember, the Lord disciplines those He LOVES. To read another post along the same lines as Benefits of Discipline in the Bible, you may enjoy God’s Discipline: That’s Life.
Or to read another recent post click here.
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