Why God Disciplines His Children
“And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” Hebrews 12:5, 6.
The reason the Lord disciplines or punishes those He loves is because we won’t possess our promise land, have an abundant life or reach our full potential until we grow up or mature.
And it’s discipline that causes us to grow up or mature.
To read the whole passage for context, click here.
Why God Disciplines His Children
The Lord wants us to be blessed. Just like a loving earthly father wants his children to be blessed. He wants us to have the good life He’s promised. But He can’t give it to us until we’re mature enough to handle it. In the same way we wouldn’t give the car keys to our five-year-old.
When we are disciplined, the Lord is just trying to answer our prayers. And give us our hearts desire. That knowledge should keep us from “regarding it lightly” or “being weary“.
When we are being disciplined (punished, judged, experiencing evil, calamity, blows or scourging) we should do as Jesus did. Who “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.. . ” Hebrews 12: 2.
The Purpose of Discipline
We need to keep in mind that the purpose is to bring us into that abundant life we’ve been longing for. This will help us to endure it with a right heart as Jesus did.
The Lord doesn’t usually just instantly answer our prayers without any effort on our part. If we pray to have a blessed life, He doesn’t just instantly cause it to happen no matter how immature we are.
Instead, He does what’s necessary to help us grow up, since this is the prerequisite. And the process of maturation often involves discipline.
We often must experience:
Pain before pleasure
Lack before abundance
Humiliation before honor and
The wilderness before the promise land.
And the good news is if God is expressing His love to us even when we’re experiencing calamity, judgment or evil, we can be confident He loves us ALL the time.
To read another post related to Why God Disciplines His Children, see Manna in the Wilderness: What the Israelites Missed.