“Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire.” Proverbs 29:17

There is nothing in this verse, or any other in the Bible dealing with disciplining our children, that says we are to enjoy it. I hated disciplining my kids when they were young. It hurts my heart to watch my grandchildren be disciplined. After decades in youth ministry, I have very often seen the clear difference between kids who were disciplined and those who weren’t. It’s not pretty. Not all disciplined children end up living lives that gave their parents peace, but many did and they also brought them a lot more joy because there was less crisis, less police involvement, and a generally less fearful existence. The undisciplined often stole their parents’ peace, as it caused them to live with anxiety and, at times, fear of the next call and what would come with it. As children of God, we are also disciplined, and whether we experience peace or turmoil and anxiety depends not on the disciplinarian, but on the recipient. Do we receive His discipline as a parent would offer it—loving, kind, and with a desire for good in our lives? Or do we receive it as if God is out to get us, and so we resist, fighting against it? Not all children respond to their parents’ discipline in a way that brings them the peace they desire. Not all children of God receive His discipline the way He desires they would. The big difference is that a parent has to allow the free will in their child. My wife and I leaned on a promise in Scripture that says if we raise our kids in God’s ways, when they are old, they will not depart from it—or perhaps they will return to Him. With God, thankfully, as His children, He has committed to conforming us to the image of His Son. How painful that conforming is reflects, to a large degree, our willingness to receive His discipline and grow through it. Today, allow the discipline of the Lord to bring peace and safety to your story. #BeTheEdge

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