Discipline Is A Sign That You Belong To Jesus

Commentary

The writer of Hebrews, quite possibly Paul, was addressing these Jewish believers in Jesus regarding their enduring in the faith. It would seem that some of them were struggling mightily, not understanding why they must endure difficult times. Not only struggles brought about from persecution, but their own sins.

When you’re not focusing on Jesus, it’s frighteningly easy to stumble. All it takes is a moment of relaxing your mind from the things of Heaven, inundating your mind with content that isn’t edifying or not being in the Word of God daily.

Jesus took on the sin of everyone to the point of shedding His own blood. A reminder that when we think we’ve resisted temptation enough, that really we have not.

It’s imperative to be looking to our Savior every moment of the day for the strength to carry on in holy living and the endurance to make it through. Without Him, weariness sets in, and a giving into temptation is inevitable. God uses trials and discipline of your sins to bring correction in your walk with Him. As we’ll see, that correction is not a bad thing and is a sign that we belong to Christ Jesus.

Commentary

There was frustration among those Hebrew believers as they suffered. They were considering turning back to the Law of Moses and its lists of commands. To fallen man, religion seems way easier than dealing with God’s trials.

For the Christ-follower, God offers us freedom in our lives with clear directions on holy living. But He also won’t sit idly by while you destroy your life with poor choices. If you’re His child, He will bring correction at some point. However, it’s up to you to receive it with a right heart.

Understand that when you’re not walking rightly, God will bring the correction that you need through the consequences that He allows you to face. These things, God can use as trials in your life. Sometimes they are immediate, other times delayed.

For instance, you lie to your boss and lose your job. He allows you to suffer that and will turn it into a trial to teach you. You eat uncontrollably and become obese. It might take years or decades, but He allows you to suffer the health issues that come from it. These become trials. And this falls on top of whatever suffering from persecution you might be dealing with.

God is not being cruel, but He is using those things to shake you and get you back on track. Rather than grumble, become frustrated, and get angry at Him or, worse yet, fall deeper. Accept His correction and learn before it’s too late. He’s not a Father who beats you into submission but rather He lovingly corrects you by allowing you to experience the outcomes of sowing to your flesh and using these things as trials to forge you.

Commentary

Parental discipline is absolutely required in a child’s life in order to raise them in the right way. While you likely didn’t enjoy your parents’ discipline, you most assuredly now value it and respect them for it.

As we know, discipline can come as a result of sin, but is also used by God in a preemptive manner to train us up in His ways, to bring us closer to Him, as demonstrated through the trials that Job endured. Only a son or daughter receives such training and reproach from a parent. Our Heavenly Father is the ultimate parent to those who are His sons and daughters.

God’s love is perfect, and that includes His discipline in your life. Scripture offers many examples of God’s loving discipline toward His own and His desire to help us grow in Him. God never brings trials out of spite but because He has the opportunity to mature your faith. But God’s discipline is not easy. Consider when David lost his newborn son to sickness. That was God bringing correction to David’s life after David veered off the path, committing adultery and murder.

Commentary

Think about when your parents gave you a spanking or took something away. You didn’t enjoy those situations. But I am certain that you learned something from those experiences. In the same way, as God disciplines you, allowing that situation to train you makes for a better future. More importantly, accepting God’s discipline is the obedient thing to do.

The writer of Hebrews describes the lessons learned as producing the “peaceful fruit of righteousness”, because when the correction comes and you’ve humbled yourself to accept it, you’ll find a newfound peace in your walk with Jesus. You won’t be in constant contention against God’s will for your life, struggling in bitterness and frustration. But you will have grown and become wiser and stronger.

It’s never enjoyable to endure discipline at the time, but the result of it is a beautiful display of God’s work in your life — for your good.

Commentary

You definitely want to be one who is trained by God’s discipline in your life. These are the opportunities to mature in your faith, to become wiser and less prone to sin.

Understand that God is not rubbing His hands together anticipating the next opportunity to give you a beating. He wants to teach you how to live, to keep you from harm, to forge you, and to glorify His name. His wisdom in your life is quite literally the difference between life and death.

Since you’re a child of the Most High God, as a Christ-follower, His trials will be unavoidable in your life. Plus, you’re bound to mess up from time to time, and when you mess up, God will be there to bring loving correction. His discipline not only sets you on the right path but also shows that you are His and just how much He truly loves you.