2/1/26
Rev. Clint Smith
Sermon Direct Link
A child thrives when they are loved well and guided with discipline. As Christians, we’re always asking, What does faithful parenting look like? God doesn’t leave us guessing. He gives us clear direction for raising and shaping our children. In the same way, He shows us how He lovingly trains those who belong to Him as His sons and daughters.
As Christians, we are called to fix our eyes on Jesus, the One who endured relentless hostility from sinners. When we measure our struggles against what He faced, our perspective must shift. We don’t give up. We don’t lose heart.
The believers were under real pressure, facing persecution and temptation, but they had not yet paid the ultimate price, as our Savior Jesus did. They were beginning to interpret hardship as abandonment, when Scripture teaches the opposite. By quoting Proverbs 3:11–12, the writer reminded them that God’s discipline is a sign of love, not rejection.
As believers endure God’s daily discipline, like the saints of old, we must remember that He is treating us as His own children. The next statement may sound almost foreign to twenty-first-century parents: “who has ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by their father?” John 1:10-13; Galatians 4:4-7; Romans 8:14-16
God’s discipline is not rejection; it is confirmation. When He corrects you, it is because you belong to Him. His discipline is evidence that you are truly His child, known, cared for, and claimed as His own. The opposite is also true: the absence of discipline points to the absence of sonship. If God never corrects a person, it is not because of indifference, but because that person does not belong to Him.
If we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, who offers us eternal life? Our earthly fathers disciplined us for only a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is perfect and always for our good, shaping us so that we might share in His holiness. Romans 8:28
Our takeaway: discipline is never pleasant in the moment, it hurts! But for those who embrace it, it yields a lasting harvest of righteous living. 1 John 3:1-3