Nobody likes to be disciplined; at least that’s what the Bible says, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful…” (Hebrews 12:11). However, as “sorrowful” as it may seem, discipline is both necessary and beneficial.
Discipline is unavoidable in the life of a faithful Christian. “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines…God deals with you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (12:6). God apparently uses the trials of this life as part of our spiritual discipline (James 1:2-4).
Discipline trains us for righteousness. As difficult as it may seem in the moment, the result of discipline is something far greater. The end of verse 11 reads, “…yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
Discipline ultimately leads to eternal life. “Shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live.” Trails in this life, including the moments that put our faith in God to the test, prepare us to stand before God and to live with God for all of eternity.
Matt Langfield