Loving Discipline

This week, we’ll continue our series on the Christian home by talking about discipline. This can be an uncomfortable topic, but it is important because it’s something we need. Our heavenly Father has called us to live a certain way, a way that embodies the Kingdom and shares the love of God with the lost, not only the brothers and sisters we have in Christ. This way is sometimes challenging and sometimes we fail to rise to meet the occasion. In these cases, we may not be surprised to find a loving and gentle reminder from our Christian family that we are loved and prayed for. What an honor to know someone cares enough to speak up!

Sometimes, families have to make the difficult decision to enact some form of discipline. It may be taking the phones away, or the games, or the car keys but none of these are not ends to themselves. These are just ways we have to communicate the seriousness, severity, and necessity of a situation. When I’m not hearing through words, someone may try to tell me through actions that I need to change.

Change is hard and so is discipline. Listen to how the Hebrews writer describes it in chapter 12: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” The danger with discipline is we can get stuck in the past and focus on the negative experience rather than the positive outcome. Look at how these two are linked in this passage: Discipline is unpleasant but it produces righteousness.

This morning, we’ll look at the end results that we hope and pray for. We disciple each other well when we discipline with the right attitude. When we love and care about someone, we do more than just sit back and watch. We reach out, we work together, and we bring our lives to the feet of Jesus.