A Good Father's Discipline Leads to Growth - The Crosswalk Devotional - August 18

A Good Father’s Discipline Leads to Growth
By Emma Danzey

“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” - Hebrews 12:11

“For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant.”

How is God training you up in the faith right now? Hebrews 12 is all about endurance in our walks with Christ. Verse 11 explains that in the moment of discipline, it seems painful rather than pleasant. Think about a time when you were a child, and your parent was lovingly teaching you a lesson that was hard or undesired at the time. Maybe it was something as simple as looking both ways before crossing the street. It seemed like an added nuisance to your fun at running and playing in the neighborhood, but a life-saving lesson. Perhaps it was a time when you were grounded because you lashed out angrily at your sibling or parents. Your privileges taken away revealed the sinful decision you had given in to, and it hurt. We are all being perfectly disciplined by our Heavenly Father. 1 John 3:1 says,

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

God is the perfect Father, and that means that He provides perfect discipline, not the screaming kind of a sinful father, not the manipulative kind of an earthly mother, but everything He does in our lives is rooted in that love for us. John 14:23 says,

“Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’”

Ultimately the moments of refinement by our Father can lead us into loving Him more. When we love God, we will obey His teaching. Our obedience to Him will not be rooted in being afraid of Him but out of love for Him. We will obey because we love and trust that our Father only wants what is best for us. He is protecting us and leading us out of His corrections and disciplines.

“But later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

There is a blessing within the discipline of the Lord. At the moment, they may not feel good, however, later, they yield peaceful fruit of righteousness. In other words, it grows the peaceful character and quality of Christlikeness to those who learn from Him and live out His teaching. We often like immediate results. If someone corrects me, I want to fix it right then and there. I feel prideful and can take on shame or embarrassment about not being “perfect.” That is of the enemy. A heart of a child in faith knows that we are all sinners. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We know that we will need correction and training. This is part of growing and developing as believers in Jesus. There is no need to become defensive or distant simply because we mess up. That is what the enemy would have us do. There is a need to press in deeper to Christ in the areas where we fail, knowing that His grace is sufficient and His power is working there.

Have you ever attempted to grow a plant or a flower? It takes work. It takes time. Some of the most beautiful botanicals or delicious fruits and vegetables do not come as easily as walking into a store and dropping some cash to take them home. We live in a society that often forgets the hard work behind the harvest. This is what discipline is in faith. There is hard work involved, be it patient endurance, the unraveling of addiction, working on our words, or having Jesus break our hearts for what breaks His. However, the fruit of the Spirit, the harvest of what He does within us and outwardly onto others, is yielding great fruit. It is wonderful and worth the effort. It is fully reliant on the Farmer to deliver what we cannot, in yet fully active in obedience to be part of the work.

Intersecting Faith and Life:
How is God disciplining you lately? What areas are you needing growth? How have you yielded the fruit of righteousness in your life? How can this bring you to hope that God is still working today?

Further Reading:

Emma Danzey’s mission in life stems from Ephesians 3:20-21, to embrace the extraordinary. One of her greatest joys is to journey with the Lord in His Scriptures. She is wife to Drew and mom to Graham. Emma serves alongside her husband in ministry, she focuses most of her time in the home, but loves to provide articles on the Bible, life questions, and Christian lifestyle. Her article on Interracial Marriage was the number 1 on Crosswalk in 2021. Most recently, Emma released Treasures for Tots, (Scripture memory songs) for young children. During her ministry career, Emma has released Wildflower: Blooming Through Singleness, two worship EP albums, founded and led Polished Conference Ministries, and ran the Refined Magazine. You can view her articles on her blog at emmadanzey.wordpress.com and check out her Instagram @Emmadanzey.