Proverbs 3:11-12

The book of Proverbs gives us a lot of instruction on a lot of different subjects. One subject that can keep us in God’s wisdom is Godly Follower-ship. Who we follow; where we follow; how we follow are all spoken about in Proverbs. Here is one of them about rejecting discipline: 

Proverbs 3:11-12

My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord

Or loathe His reproof,

For whom the Lord loves He reproves,

Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

Do not reject discipline? Is that really what Solomon is telling us?  Who can even do this?  From the minute we are born we reject discipline.   The doctor spanks on the butt to take our first breath and we do what we naturally do, "cry."   We push back against discipline, no matter why or how it comes to us.   Solomon tries to soften the message by telling us that The Lord loves us and that is why He disciplines us.  However, like a mom or dad telling us, "This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you." we recoil in frustration and rebellion.  No one, in the flesh, embraces discipline.   That is why we must live "by faith."  We must be willing to put the flesh aside, if we ever want to embrace reproof and correction.   We must enter it by faith that God loves us and desires the best for them.    We will always reject discipline without faith motivating us.  To get the most out of The Lord's discipline we must accept by faith that God loves us and has our best in mind.  God does love us.  He knows we need correction to be conformed to the image of His son.  That is why He allows "things" to happen in our lives.  But, He uses those "things" to bring us to a clear image of Christ (Romans 8:28-30).   God is the best person to discipline us.  Because, unlike our parents and other authorities, He has perfect love and perfect understanding for what we need and He has the perfect shape He is trying to form us to look like: His Son.