THE VALUE OF DISCIPLINE. Hebrews 12:9-11 When discipline is received with submission, it is beneficial and wholesome in the long run. The lasting results depend on how we receive it and how it is given. We don’t discipline a child to make life unpleasant but to develop the abilities that enable the child to live a fuller life and be able to
“live.” A loving father disciplines with firmness, self-control, and wisdom that seek long-lasting results, so it doesn’t have to be repeated.
The one receiving the discipline can accept it with resignation and the honest recognition that it is deserved; with self-pity if we don’t think we deserve it; with anger and resentment because we have to face the facts and acknowledge our wrong; or with a grateful heart, knowing that real love is the reason for it.
God gives us this preparatory time in life to prepare for eternity. We must learn to share His holiness and His behavior. Submit to Him. Trust His wisdom. Cooperate with Him and live by His grace. Chastening is evidence that we are saved [v.6-8], for our profit and welfare [v.10], for our cleansing [v.11], and to prevent us from losing our crown [v.15].
“Peaceable fruits of righteousness” benefit everyone involved in the discipline and draw them closer together through the bonds of love, fellowship, trust in one another, and faith in God. Trust in self and spiritual pride are opposed to divine mercy and grace. Discipline does not necessarily bring a cheerful result. If it is effective, it will bring holy mourning that leads to deadness to self and rejoicing in God’s gracious dealings with us as a loving and all-knowing Father.
In childhood, chastisement is often resented because it imposes restraint, guidance, and submission to authority. When childhood is past, and we look back as adult children, we view chastisement with affection, reverence, and gratitude. To a certain extent, even a child who does wrong knows that discipline is evidence of parental love. Righteousness and peace will result. The discipline may be temporarily painful, but it brings good results. We can accept it [1] with resignation, [2] with self-pity, thinking we don’t really deserve it, [3] be angry and resentful toward God, or [4] accept it gratefully.
Earthly fathers discipline their children to correct their behavior. Our heavenly Father disciplines our spiritual and eternal life as well as our temporal and physical life. An earthly father’s discipline lasts only a brief period; God’s discipline lasts a lifetime. Fathers discipline with imperfect understanding based on their “own pleasure (desire),” or what they know personally; God disciplines with perfect wisdom and love to make us partakers of His holiness.
He is “the Father of our spirits.” We should never take divine discipline lightly. Faith lives in the future and the unseen, so it desires the blessings that holy discipline brings “afterward.” God’s discipline is an important part of our training for holy and godly living here and for the development of our Christian character, which we will benefit from forever.