Discipline is Love

"The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of sin.  He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray."

Proverbs 5:22-23

When things are going wrong in our lives we so easily blame everything and everyone else.  This is the state of the natural man.  This is how our culture and the world teaches us to deal with our problems.  If something is going wrong at work it is the boss' fault.  If something is going wrong with my finances it's because they don't pay me enough.  If something is going wrong with my kids, it's because they don't listen.  If my marriage is suffering it's because my wife needs to change.  A man I used to work with cutting lumber all day used to say, "there are too many finger pointers in the world, we need more thumb people".  What he meant by that, is that we often point the finger at others' for all of our problems and difficult circumstances, and seldom hold up our thumbs, which would be pointing right back at us as the source of the issues.  The scripture above describes a life situation in which the person has such a lack of discipline in their lives that the sin in their lives has now ensnared them.  The definition of ensnare is to catch in, as in a trap.  And because of being in this trap of sin that is difficult to come out of, he dies.  And why?  Because his great folly and lack of discipline continued to lead him astray and to ultimately get him so wrapped up in the sin in his life, that it kills him.  You see, the problem is that we resist discipline in our lives.  We think of discipline in the context of a parent and a child, but we are not seeing the entire picture.  That is because the world convinces us, that once we reach a certain age, or a certain job, or live on our own, we can 'do what we want'.  Now this is certainly true, we all have free will, but this is not the way God would want us to live, that leads to love, joy, and peace in our lives.  The truth is we never reach an age or status where discipline ceases to help us grow.  The writer of Hebrews tells us, "For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives" (Heb.12:6).  We have a false worldly view of discipline.  God views discipline as love.  God allows things in our lives for us to grow and mature, and we have consequences for the sin we choose to take part in, so that we may learn from them and ultimately grow closer into the image of Jesus.  Discipline is a good thing!  Discipline speaks truth to the brother that is about to divorce his wife.  Discipline speaks life into financial hardship, to take ownership of the job of stewarding your finances wisely.  Discipline points the thumb at yourself in your work situation, and doesn't blame your coworkers or boss, but rather takes responsibility for the issues and fixes them.  Discipline is good!  According to the scripture above loving discipline is what can save us from the certain death of being ensnared in our sin.  What difficult circumstances or hardships are you facing right now?  What is the lesson it those that the Lord is trying to teach you?  Look for the lesson and the growth in those situations.  Look for how the Lord is using your circumstance to mold you to be more Christ-like.  Because ultimately God loves you and wants a beautiful joy and peace-filled life for you.  Today, embrace discipline because it is God's loving way of molding you into who you were created to be!  Love you all!  Praying for you and yours!  Have a blessed day, it's your choice!