Discipline is not something that most of us welcome. All too often, it invokes the idea of punishment. Yet they are actually two different things, even though we sometimes use the words interchangeably, and they may sometimes feel the same. But punishment serves a retributive purpose, while discipline aims to teach or train.
We may experience discipline as a corrective for some inappropriate behavior. That correction is often unpleasant, but it helps us to learn. As a young child, I experienced discipline from my parents. I didn’t enjoy it at the time. But I learned appropriate behavior from it, and in time, I became very thankful for it. I was blessed to have been disciplined by my parents.
I also experienced discipline when I went through boot camp after joining the Navy. The discipline there transformed me from a young civilian man, an individual, into a sailor, a part of a team. This experience was also not pleasant. But it did enable me to thrive in the Navy and beyond, and I am thankful for what it taught me.
Blessed is the one you discipline, LORD,
Psalm 94:12 NIV
the one you teach from your law;
What my parents and boot camp taught me through discipline holds even more true for God’s discipline. My parents disciplined me as they thought best. Boot Camp discipline was dependent on fallible human instructors. But God’s discipline is always for my best good. His discipline shapes and molds me according to His purpose for my life (Phil. 2:13). I can trust that no matter what happens in my life, the good, the bad, and the ugly, God is using it to discipline and teach me (Heb. 12:7). And, through it all, to enable me to walk with Him both now and through eternity. We are indeed blessed to be able to experience God’s love through His discipline.
