“Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire.”

If there’s anything we know about God, it’s that He loves to show us who He is and how He operates through the model of the family. We have God the Father and God the Son. We have the prodigal son and his interactions with his father. Scripture is filled with examples of God as a Father and us as His children, to help us learn how He treats us and how He feels about us. We also know that this passage in Proverbs directs parents to create boundaries and safe, healthy environments for their children. That includes proper discipline—discipline rooted in a love that defies explanation. One of my questions about God the Father comes from Jesus’ story of the two sons. He tells of a father who asks his sons to go work in the vineyard. One said no, but later went; the other said yes, but didn’t. Jesus’ question was: which of them did what the father wanted? That’s a great lesson—but what I really want to know is, what did the father do with them in the meantime? Was there discipline involved? Was it all about patience? I love the picture of the patient, loving Father. The disciplinarian—not so much. But His discipline, and ours, should come from a place of deep love. Today, keep the two in balance. #BeTheEdge

“because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Hebrews 12:6 NIV