DISCIPLINE OR PUNISHMENT?

Job 5:17 “But consider the joy of those corrected by God. Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty”

I read a book a while back where the author was attempting to illustrate godly correction. He quoted Hebrews 12:6-10 (“he whom the Lord loves He chastens/disciplines”) and then made the following statement: “God does not hesitate to hurt us if this is necessary to help us become mature sons and daughters of His.” He then told a personal story of when his two year old son had foot surgery. Each night, the father had to stretch the foot as a type of physical therapy. Of course, it was tremendously painful to the son, but in the end the father said it was “worth it.” The surgery was a success. At that point, I stopped reading and thought to myself, “hurt us to help us?” Is that really what Godly discipline is designed to be?

Most people assume that God’s correction is painful. And sometimes maybe that’s the case…but is that the way God prefers? Godly discipline and punishment are not synonymous. And God never said that they needed to be. Hebrews 12 talks of love correcting or disciplining us, but that verse also should be taken within the entire context of the New Testament. For example, 1 Corinthians 2:9-14 (NLT) gives us another clue to the puzzle...

“That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, ’No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’ But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets…And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us…we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.”

The question is not does God discipline, but how. God’s discipline is radically different than the father/son illustration above. And 1 Corinthians backs it up. If God does use natural circumstances to correct us, they are at best a second option. God’s first and foremost choice to adjust any Christian’s perspective is the Spirit of God speaking to our spirit. That’s “how we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.” That’s always God’s first choice and he doesn’t need to create painful circumstances to get our attention.

Let me use another father/child illustration in contrast to the first one. My oldest daughter is eight. She’s conscientious and really tries to do what we ask of her. What would you think of me as a father if though I had the distinct option either to “hurt her in order to make her mature” or teach her personally how to be mature…but I still chose to hurt her? What if rather than conversationally teaching her about meekness, I back-handed her hoping to achieve the same affect. Make your stomach turn, huh? Mine too. The issue is in the choice. Direct communication is God’s desired method of disciplining us.

Often, it is our failure to hear God that leads us down a path that God would have had us otherwise avoid. God cares enough to correct. As believers, we will need chastening from time to time. This should not stunt our growth, but it should propel us into greater things. Let us ask ourselves, “Is it possible that I am here, because I failed to listen to the Spirit speaking beforehand?” Make the commitment to hear the correction of the spirit and rejoice that God loves us enough to correct.