Discipline is necessary, indispensable. It applies in an instant, but looking for positive results in the future. God disciplines the people He loves and we must follow His example. God calls parents to be like him, to love their children, and to discipline them. Let’s look at Tom Ascol’s text on discipline at home:
At the beginning of our marriage, my wife (Donna) spent two years working as a pediatric nurse in a huge children’s hospital. The unit where he worked regularly received young patients who desperately needed sometimes extreme medical care. The biggest challenges of his work, which went beyond the emotional burden of caring for children who never recovered, was caring for well-meaning but wrong parents of their patients.
- Sometimes affected parents or other family members complained and even interfered with prescribed treatment for sick and injured children; they couldn’t bear to see their children endure the pain of an injection or be forced to swallow medication.
- Be “cruel” and “indifferent” at times.
“I could never be a pediatric nurse, because I love children so much,” is a statement she has heard many times. Although he never said anything in response, the thought that always came to mind was, “Do you really think the reason I do this is because I don’t like children?”It’s quite the opposite! It’s because I love your child that I’m willing to inflict pain if necessary to apply medications that can restore your health. I don’t like to see him cry, but I know the long-term benefit is worth it in the short term. .
Is that how God wants us to think about discipline?All disciplines, including those that parents are responsible for applying at home. In fact, the Hebrew word used in the Old Testament and the Greek word used in the New Testament for “Discipline”. Transmit the idea of correction that leads to education. This is a positive and very valuable effort.
But we know that not everyone sees discipline as a good thing
However, for many people today, discipline is an unpleasant word; they see the whole idea in a negative and restrictive way associated with thoughts of punishment, pain, suffering and deprivation. Never an end in itself. It is always a means to a desirable end. As Hebrews 12. 11 explains: “Every discipline, in fact, at the moment does not seem to be a source of joy, but of sadness; produces peaceful fruits for those who have exercised in it, the fruit of justice?
Is discipline an activity that occurs at the moment?But you always look at the ‘after’. The farmer assumes the discipline of tillage, planting and maintenance of the soil, not for these activities in themselves, but for the resulting harvest.
It is precisely because of the positive results that God does not retain the discipline of the people He loves. It is a truth of vital importance that Christians must remember when they go through trials and difficulties. The author of Hebrews insists on this point by quoting Proverbs. 3: 11-12 to encourage their readers not to tire or faint in the midst of suffering. He asks them (and us) to remember that God treats us like children in this passage when He says, “My son, do not despise the correction that comes from the Lord, do not hesitate when I reproach you; Why does the Lord correct the one who loves and whips every child he receives?(Heb 12. 5-6).
Let’s see how the Bible deals more directly with this topic
By Tom Ascol. Extract from www. ligonier. org. © 2013 Ligonier Ministries. Original: Discipline at home
This article is part of the August 2013 issue of Tabletalk magazine
Translation: Alan Cristie. Crítica: Renata do Esperito Santo?© Faithful Ministry. All rights reserved. Website: www. MinisterioFiel. com. br. Original: Is discipline a good thing?
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