The Gospel and Discipline

This week in KV we talked about the promise that God will discipline His children. Originally, I thought this would be a pretty straight forward lesson... right? Wrong. I didn't realize just how difficult it would be for the girls to grasp the concept of loving discipline. But as I asked them about the discipline they received from their earthly fathers it became clear why their vision was so skewed. So many of the girls that I teach are just flat out not disciplined. In fact, when I asked what they thought discipline means, I (literally) got the response "my Daddy never disciplines me because I'm his little princess!". Straight up. An 11 year old girl. She even did a little head-cocked-smile. Of course she's going to have a difficult time understanding why God's promise to discipline His children is a good thing! But Hebrews 12:7-11 says...

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Though it's hard to communicate this to kids that have grown up in a world where their parents made excuses and looked the other way, it is so important for them to understand this because (once again) it points to the beauty of the Gospel! The reason we receive discipline and not wrath is because Christ absorbed that wrath on the Cross. The reason we can be counted as sons and daughters of the King is because He grants us grace to believe through the blood of His Son. And even in His discipline He is gracious, omniscient and holy.

This week, my prayer for my girls is that as they grow in their understanding of the Lord and His promises, they will know more fully the beauty of grace and the gift of discipline. I pray that they would see discipline as a necessary step in God's promise to make us look more like Jesus. And most importantly, I pray that their hearts would understand the beauty and the magnitude of the Gospel.