Seven Negatives That God Can Make Into Positives (Part III)

Hello my friends. Today we will continue with our teaching on Seven Negatives That God Can Turn Into Positives. We have already considered the first two which are temptation and failure. The third is...

III. Discipline

Hebrews 12:5-6, 11 (CSBBible) says, “My son, do not take the Lord's discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by him, 6 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and punishes every son he receives. 11 No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

If you are a child of God then no doubt you have been disciplined by the Lord before. The Lord disciplines all of his children just like a good parent would discipline his or her child. When you are going through it, it is never easy or pleasant but rather painful and very uncomfortable. Can anything good come out of the discipline of the Lord? Absolutely! Let me share with you a few positive things that God will bring out of it.

(1) Discipline will break you of your bad habits when nothing else would. We sometimes get into the bad habit of doing things we ought not to do. And habits are hard to break. But when God disciplines us he can deliver us from those ungodly behaviors and set us free once and for all. The old saying is true. People change when the pain of staying the same is worse than the pain of changing.

(2) Discipline will get your attention when you are so caught up doing your own thing that you can't hear God. I am convinced that, because he loves us, God is always speaking to us. He lets us know if how we are living is pleasing to him or is grieving his heart. The problem is that sometimes we simply are not paying enough attention to receive God's message. Discipline will ring loud enough that you will not be able to miss it. Once God has your attention you will be able to receive his correction.

(3) Discipline will deliver you from a state of rebellion against God like nothing else can. It is sad but true that sometimes even believers can get into a state of rebellion against God. We want what we want and we become determined to get it even when we know it is not what God desires for us. Discipline will remind us of who is in charge and what is required of us. Discipline will bring our hearts to a place of repentance. It will bring us back to a place of surrender to the Lord. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? It is most definitely a very good thing. I have never met anyone that was not eventually grateful that they submitted to the discipline of the Lord.