By: Orean Brown
Hearing this and being on the receiving end of my grandmother, my mother, and my aunt’s discipline, I thought how can this hurt you when I’m the one getting spanked. The redness and the stinging on my behind, told me something different. Now that I’m a parent, I truly understand this saying. Parents see the benefits of discipline more easily than their children. When I was a child, I never quite bought the idea that I was being punished because my parents loved me, I just didn’t size it up that way. Acting as my own defense attorney, I rehearsed in my mind the severity of my punishment. Then I considered the verdict for my crimes and as I cried into my pillow, I thought that this is unfair. Only when I was older did I view discipline through a clearer lens. Of course, now, I’m appreciative of my parents’ loving discipline. But what about God’s discipline? Are we grateful for it? Do we see his love in it? Let’s concern ourselves what the Hebrew writer tells us in Hebrews 12:3-11, “3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the [a]chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If[b] you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no [c]chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. As believers, we struggle to apply this childhood lesson to our walk of faith. We often view God’s discipline from a childish perspective. We suffer—prompting us to ask, why? When bad things happen to God’s people, we puzzle in wonder, frustration or doubt. We question God’s wisdom. We question God’s motives. Like the parental discipline we faced as children, we question the severity of the suffering, the aptness, the justness of the trial. Why should I go through this pain? This certainly fits the situation being addressed in the book of Hebrews. The writer urges the Hebrew Christians to consider their current trials and suffering with spiritual maturity. He encourages them to remember God’s ways with His children. They needed a reminder. Don’t we all? Like them, we need to be reminded of the Word of God: “And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons?” (Heb. 12:5). These words are part of the prior exhortation to remember Jesus Christ in His suffering, the One who “endured the cross” and “the opposition of sinful men” (12:2–3). We slip into a forgetfulness of God’s Word. The author of Hebrews; therefore, reminds us of that Word, referring to God’s fatherly discipline as an “exhortation” or an “encouragement.” This comforting word of God, which the writer to the Hebrews tells us not to forget, is a quotation of Proverbs 3:11—12. The biblical writer informs us of three things, followed by an explanation: first, we must not make light of the Lord’s discipline; secondly, we must not lose heart when rebuked; and third, the explanation: “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (vv. 5b–6). Discipline is grounded in God’s fatherly care for us. The point is clear, and we must not miss it: In the face of suffering and struggle, in the face of disappointments and persecution, God has not abandoned us. He has not forgotten us, nor is He treating us as rejects or unwanted. On the contrary, He is treating us as His sons and daughters. The writer expands on this theme. He points these beleaguered believers to the love of human parenting. Our earthly parents “disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them.” By saying, “as seemed best to them,” the writer indicates that our parents weren’t without fault. They worked on raising us as best they could, and “we respected them” for it. Under normal circumstances, as grown-ups, we appreciate our parent’s efforts in raising us, especially when we have children of our own. We respect our parents because they tried to better us and develop our character. But God doesn’t discipline us “as seems best”; rather, He “disciplines us for our good” in order that “we may share his holiness.” There’s no question here as to whether God knows what He is doing. There’s never anything uninformed, misguided, or unfair in His child-rearing efforts. Is it pleasant? The writer to the Hebrews says it isn’t. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful” (12:11a). There is no getting around that, discipline is distasteful. It is corrective. It steers us in a new direction. It forces us out of ruts of sinful attitudes, actions, thoughts, and words. It makes us look at our habits from a better, more biblical perspective. Though the path is painful, its rewards are blessed: Verse 11b tells us, “it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (v. 11b). We must not miss this pivotal point. The Hebrew Christians are urged to be “trained” by their sufferings. In other words, if the discipline is to have its desired effect, they are not merely to endure what they suffer. They must be “trained” by their suffering. They must learn from it, for “training” doesn’t take place automatically, just as going to school doesn’t guarantee that we learn anything. Some Christians who have suffered a great deal have learned very little. Others, however, were “trained” by God’s discipline, and the “fruits of righteousness” are there for God and for us to see. Lastly you may ask How does this is going to hurt me part of this article apply to God. Does God hurt or is grieved because of our disobedience and the fact that he must discipline us? In Genesis 6:6 and Eph 4:30 the bible tells us that God, and the Holy Spirit can be grieved. You see saints, God is grieved by His children’s disobedience, knowing He has given us the world’s greatest gift, His son Jesus Christ. His Son died on the Cross, bearing the weight and punishment of all the sins of mankind, and it grieves God to know we will miss out on that blessing, and face His judgment, if we don’t repent. Therefore, just like our parents, God can say, “This Is Going To Hurt Me More Than It Hurts You”