BE HAPPY WHEN THE LORD DISCIPLINES YOU
BE HAPPY WHEN THE LORD DISCIPLINES YOU
Bible Reference: Proverbs 3:11-12: “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke,12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in”.
We thank God for such a wonderful day and time like this, we give Him all the glory and praise for His mercies and love through His Son Jesus Christ. We thank Him for granting us sinners life and reserving his holy wrath that we might return to Him. We thank Him for His Holy Spirit given to us who continually convict us of our sins and brings to light our guilt and shame that we might walk in holiness and godliness. May His name be praise now and forever.
Discipline, according to Wikipedia is “the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience”. Let us take note of some key words in this definition; Practice, training, obey, behavior, disobedience. From this definition, we are disciplined only when we disobey certain rules. The purpose of discipline as could be found in the definition is to train a person and correct one from a bad behavior.
The question now is who has the right to discipline us? It is clear from the definition that discipline can only be useful when there are laid down rules. If there are no rules, then no one can determine if one has committed an offense.
As Christians, just as there could be no discipline without rules in our daily life so it is regarding our relationship with God. Just as our earthly parents, or leaders in our society corrects us when we disobey their rules, so is it with our God. Why should we be disciplined as Christians and how are we disciplined by God are important questions we should ask.
WHY SHOULD WE BE DISCIPLINES AS CHRISTIANS BY GOD?
- We should be disciplined because God loves us (Proverbs 3:12).
- We should be disciplined because we are sons and daughters of God and so He has the right to do so. (Hebrews 12:7)
- We are disciplined for our own good. (Hebrews 12:10)
- We are disciplined so that we can share the holiness of God through Christ (Hebrews 12:10)
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS THAT WE GET AS A RESULTS OF GODS DISCIPLINE?
- It brings us closer to God
- It makes us wise (Proverbs 13:1)
- It produces a harvest of righteousness (Proverbs 12:11)
- It brings peace
- We receive Gods blessing (Job 5:17)
The big question we will look at in our next study is, how do we know we are been disciplined by God or what is the nature of Gods discipline?
To conclude with today’s search for scriptures, the key thing we should all know as Christians is that God loves us and so He will discipline if we disobey him so that we can share his holiness through Christ.
God bless you.