5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Hebrews 12:5-6
Explanation:
Christ strove with sin, enduring, even unto death. He did this to purchase our redemption and provide resurrection life to those who would trust in Him. Now he strives with us, His children, to correct us when we sin. He will discipline us to help us do what is right. The preacher tells us to not despise this, or faint at it. Why?
First, we should not despise it because it is evidence of the love of the Father. Good and loving fathers correct their kids and train them.
Second, we should not despise correction because it does just that. It corrects! We are better off for it because chastening and scourging from a loving father is always less severe than the pain that would come from not correcting the behavior. A received son is a loved son. A loved son is one who is corrected and trained.
Application:
How should we respond to such things?
- Be teachable. Chastening is all about helping us to understand what we’ve done wrong and changing it. Don’t be stubborn. Don’t waste the pain. Learn from it and change.
- Be thankful. Remember that this is an act of love from a loving father. He wants us to have a life that can be blessed through being obedient. Thank him for teaching us even through difficult circumstances.
- Be obedient. Kids who are obedient do not need to be corrected. Trust the Father enough to learn from hearing rather than learning from experience. It’s a better plan.
Response:
Heavenly Father, I do not want to learn through experience or the hard way. I want to learn by listening and obeying. Give me the wisdom and the will to do that. Help me to be thankful for the spankings and the chastening. Help me to learn from them. Not my will, but thine be done. Amen.