A Brief Study on the Discipline of the Lord

     The Bible reveals that God disciplines His children. The discipline of the Lord may be understood as the guidance or training God provides for His people in order to produce humility, godly character, and responsible living. He sometimes disciplines us because we’re out of His will (1 Cor. 11:30; Rev. 3:19), and other times to develop our character (Rom. 5:3-5; Jam. 1:2-4). Whether the purpose is to restore fellowship, or advance spiritual growth, His discipline is always derived from His love for us, “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:6), and Jesus states, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline” (Rev. 3:19a).

     Though born again to new life (1 Pet. 1:3, 23), Christians still have an active sin nature (Rom. 6:6; 7:19-23; Col. 3:9; Gal. 5:17, 19), which drives us to selfish living and the pursuit of pleasure over godliness; but God loves us too much to tolerate our foolishness. God’s chastening is intended to bring about our obedience in accordance with His word. It is written, “Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O LORD, and whom You teach out of Your law” (Ps. 94:12), and “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes” (Ps. 119:71). Concerning the hardship that Israel suffered in the wilderness for forty years, the Lord explains, “the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him” (Deut. 8:5-6).

     Sometimes God will discipline us using other people, such as He promised to do with Solomon, saying, “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men” (2 Sam. 7:14). Sometimes God uses a variety of trials, such as those mentioned in the letter of James, who wrote, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (Jam. 1:2-3; cf. 1 Pet. 1:6).

     The growing believer accepts God’s discipline. This is why Solomon states, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid” (Prov. 12:1). But there are those who reject God’s training, and to him it is stated, “He who neglects discipline despises himself, but he who listens to reproof acquires understanding” (Prov. 15:32).

     God led Israel, His people, through the wilderness for forty years, letting them experience hardship, “that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end” (Deut. 8:16). And the writer to the Hebrews explains, “He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness” (Heb. 12:10), and then adds, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Heb. 12:11). Discipline serves a purpose, and it’s the “afterwards” that God is looking for, “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Knowing this, let us learn to welcome God’s chastening.

     God uses hardship to humble believers (Deut. 8:1-6), and to help advance us to spiritual maturity. It is never the hardship by itself that produces godly character, but rather our response to it by learning and living Scripture (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16-17; 1 Pet. 2:2), being active in prayer (Phil. 4:6; 1 Thess. 5:17), living by faith (Rom. 10:17; 2 Cor. 5:7), being thankful (1Thess. 5:18; Jam. 1:2-4), and growing in God’s grace (2 Pet. 3:18). As we grow, we learn to rejoice in hardships (Rom. 5:3-5), and weakness (2 Cor. 11:30; 12:7-10), in order that we may boast in the Lord who works in us for our good (Jer. 9:23-24; 1 Cor. 1:31).