We’re not born fully formed and mature. We must learn, grow, and discover the way we should live. And this is often accomplished through discipline.
Of course, the discipline must be age appropriate and properly applied.
For example, a toddler needs a different type of discipline than a child in the 3rd grade, and certainly much different than a child in high school.
Likewise, the discipline we need simply to reach adulthood is different than what we still need to reach our potential, even as adults. There is a sense in which we’re never too old to be disciplined.
Discipline at its heart is about correction and training in righteousness – not mere power and demands for compliance.
As fathers, for instance, we discipline our children because we love them and want what’s best for them. And this means we must keep a cool head so we’re not disciplining simply out of our own frustrations.
And while part of this teaching is a respect for authority, this is much more than merely pushing our own agenda and trying to get our own way.
Without a doubt, we learn how to discipline well in part by submitting to discipline ourselves. And this includes self-discipline and to the qualified authorities in our life.
Whatever it looks like, both giving and receiving, discipline is not an enjoyable experience. It’s painful to endure and to watch someone we love suffer under the discipline given at our hand.
But, either way, discipline is needed for us to mature and to be trained in the way we should go.
It’s not love when we withhold this for those we’re responsible for. And we do ourselves no favors when we avoid it ourselves.
However unpleasant in the moment, discipline has a role to play in becoming all that God has called you to be. Accept it faithfully and allow it to do its work throughout your life and relationships.
