Don't Despise Discipline
To go along with the sermon from June 30th, 2024
Day 1
Read Proverbs 1:1-19
If you stay with us in these devotions, you are probably asking yourself if you read this passage somewhere recently. You did. It was just a few weeks ago that I included this for the devotions, but saw the value in coming back to it this week. In the sermon, we explored the idea that “discipline” and “instruction” are used interchangeably in the Bible. This was helpful for me to see because I was stuck in the rut of thinking of discipline as a version of punishment. Instruction is different than punishment. In fact, punishment has to come at the end of something, or after something has happened. The beauty of discipline and instruction is that they can come before something happens in a hope of steering away from that very thing happening, but also can come after something happens, but with the goal and purpose of steering away from repeating that something of continuing to exist in the bad of that something.
The reason this was helpful for me is because it is the perfect explanation for why we should be learning, why we should be existing in a community, and why we can always question ourselves. Which explains why I should remain humble at all times and why pride is such a dangerous idea for me. Pride is me, but it is against me. Discipline is for me. That is why our passage this week says that discipline comes along in love and because of love. If there is love, there has to be discipline.
Read over this passage again and use the word “discipline” in place of “instructions”. How does this help you read this better?
Where have you experienced discipline that came before a decision and helped guide that decision?
Where have you experience discipline after a decision and how did it guide you to repentance?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
If you stay with us in these devotions, you are probably asking yourself if you read this passage somewhere recently. You did. It was just a few weeks ago that I included this for the devotions, but saw the value in coming back to it this week. In the sermon, we explored the idea that “discipline” and “instruction” are used interchangeably in the Bible. This was helpful for me to see because I was stuck in the rut of thinking of discipline as a version of punishment. Instruction is different than punishment. In fact, punishment has to come at the end of something, or after something has happened. The beauty of discipline and instruction is that they can come before something happens in a hope of steering away from that very thing happening, but also can come after something happens, but with the goal and purpose of steering away from repeating that something of continuing to exist in the bad of that something.
The reason this was helpful for me is because it is the perfect explanation for why we should be learning, why we should be existing in a community, and why we can always question ourselves. Which explains why I should remain humble at all times and why pride is such a dangerous idea for me. Pride is me, but it is against me. Discipline is for me. That is why our passage this week says that discipline comes along in love and because of love. If there is love, there has to be discipline.
Read over this passage again and use the word “discipline” in place of “instructions”. How does this help you read this better?
Where have you experienced discipline that came before a decision and helped guide that decision?
Where have you experience discipline after a decision and how did it guide you to repentance?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 2
Read Proverbs 6:20-35
Remember when I shared with you all that my family was reading through Proverbs and we would come to certain parts that I didn’t expect and maybe were a bit too mature for some of the ears in the room? This is one of those places. It starts out all innocent and everything, but then it starts in on a tale of a man that is being seduced by an adulterous woman. Which is an odd version of how that story usually goes from our perspective. Read it more carefully. That is not what it is trying to tell me. That is the story that it is using to try and get me to notice a point. Remember, wisdom is presented as a desirable woman in Proverbs a few different times. That means the opposite of that would be anti-wisdom and it is presented here as an adulterous woman.
It is discipline and instruction that keeps us from the trap of that analogous woman. That is a great thought to sit with and think about, but I was captured by verse 23. The commandment is a lamp. The “Thou shall not…” is a lamp that shows a step that could be tripped up. Imagine the lamps you were on your forehead that point down. The teaching, or the expounding of the commandment is a light. The more you look at it, the more you see all around it. It is the bright lights you use when driving at night. But discipline’s corrections are just the way you can expect life to go. In other words, you have the commands in the Bible that say, “don’t do that”, but you also have the teachings that come from those that show you why you shouldn’t do that. But you will do some of that…so you even have the grace of discipline that says, “You should not have done that, but I will show you the way back from that.”
How would you explain this idea to someone that is new to the Bible?
How have you experienced these three parts (commandment, teaching, discipline) last week in your life?
How does today’s devotion inform your prayers?
Remember when I shared with you all that my family was reading through Proverbs and we would come to certain parts that I didn’t expect and maybe were a bit too mature for some of the ears in the room? This is one of those places. It starts out all innocent and everything, but then it starts in on a tale of a man that is being seduced by an adulterous woman. Which is an odd version of how that story usually goes from our perspective. Read it more carefully. That is not what it is trying to tell me. That is the story that it is using to try and get me to notice a point. Remember, wisdom is presented as a desirable woman in Proverbs a few different times. That means the opposite of that would be anti-wisdom and it is presented here as an adulterous woman.
It is discipline and instruction that keeps us from the trap of that analogous woman. That is a great thought to sit with and think about, but I was captured by verse 23. The commandment is a lamp. The “Thou shall not…” is a lamp that shows a step that could be tripped up. Imagine the lamps you were on your forehead that point down. The teaching, or the expounding of the commandment is a light. The more you look at it, the more you see all around it. It is the bright lights you use when driving at night. But discipline’s corrections are just the way you can expect life to go. In other words, you have the commands in the Bible that say, “don’t do that”, but you also have the teachings that come from those that show you why you shouldn’t do that. But you will do some of that…so you even have the grace of discipline that says, “You should not have done that, but I will show you the way back from that.”
How would you explain this idea to someone that is new to the Bible?
How have you experienced these three parts (commandment, teaching, discipline) last week in your life?
How does today’s devotion inform your prayers?
Day 3
Read Proverbs 19:20-27
You know what I don’t look forward to? My kids turning 18. That seems like a tough stage of transition to navigate as a parent. We have built in this idea in our society that this is when adulting kind of starts, and therefore the parameters of responsibility have to be changed. You may not agree with that, but I am speaking in generalizations. For the most part, I remember what it was like to begin that transition out on my own and what struggles were involved there. I was taught that I would be out from under my parents when I reach that point and quite frankly, I was glad because some of their ways seemed ou of date and like they held me back.
There is a difference between having to be under instruction (which, remember, is the same thing as discipline) and allowing yourself to be under instruction. That is why verse 27 stands out to me. How old is the “son” he is talking to? It doesn’t matter…you never reach the point that instruction is not helpful. It is helpful when you are a toddler learning about hot stoves and bus roads and it is helpful when you are putting together a family and have your own job. But the warning here is not “hearing” it. Not that it is not there, but that you choose to not hear it. It is the ceasing of hearing it that is the danger. You had been hearing it, but your heart changed, and now you are not willing to hear it. Never get to the point that you think so highly of yourself that you think you can do it without instruction. That seems to be the lesson here.
If you are still under your parents, how have their instructions helped you this week? If you are not under your parents, how have their instructions from long ago been considered and helpful this week?
Have you ceased to hear instruction? Why or why not?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
You know what I don’t look forward to? My kids turning 18. That seems like a tough stage of transition to navigate as a parent. We have built in this idea in our society that this is when adulting kind of starts, and therefore the parameters of responsibility have to be changed. You may not agree with that, but I am speaking in generalizations. For the most part, I remember what it was like to begin that transition out on my own and what struggles were involved there. I was taught that I would be out from under my parents when I reach that point and quite frankly, I was glad because some of their ways seemed ou of date and like they held me back.
There is a difference between having to be under instruction (which, remember, is the same thing as discipline) and allowing yourself to be under instruction. That is why verse 27 stands out to me. How old is the “son” he is talking to? It doesn’t matter…you never reach the point that instruction is not helpful. It is helpful when you are a toddler learning about hot stoves and bus roads and it is helpful when you are putting together a family and have your own job. But the warning here is not “hearing” it. Not that it is not there, but that you choose to not hear it. It is the ceasing of hearing it that is the danger. You had been hearing it, but your heart changed, and now you are not willing to hear it. Never get to the point that you think so highly of yourself that you think you can do it without instruction. That seems to be the lesson here.
If you are still under your parents, how have their instructions helped you this week? If you are not under your parents, how have their instructions from long ago been considered and helpful this week?
Have you ceased to hear instruction? Why or why not?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 4
Read Hebrews 12:1-17
The writer in Hebrews does a great work for us in this chapter. They take the text from Proverbs 3:11-12, our text from the sermon Sunday, and do the work of application for us. By now, if you have been following the thoughts for the week, you have a pretty good idea of what the Bible is referring to with discipline. The writer here seems to want to hammer home the idea that this affliction, this difficulty, this struggle that is being endured is actually coming from a place of love. It is a tell-tale sign that God loves you. The way you can understand that is to remind yourself that the purpose of the discipline is to draw you back to God. So the discipline, even though it feels isolating and heavy, has the purpose of bringing us closer to God. It comes from God and it is for the purpose of making us closer to God. That is how we know it is rooted in love.
I encourage you to spend time thinking about verse 11 where we learn that after the struggle is the “peaceful fruit of righteousness” once we have been trained in discipline. “Trained” lends itself to a long process over time. “Peaceful” shows us that the chaos and struggle is not a permanent part of what we endure.
What do you think the peaceful fruit of righteousness looks like in your life?
How does verse 12-13 fit into all of these ideas from today?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
The writer in Hebrews does a great work for us in this chapter. They take the text from Proverbs 3:11-12, our text from the sermon Sunday, and do the work of application for us. By now, if you have been following the thoughts for the week, you have a pretty good idea of what the Bible is referring to with discipline. The writer here seems to want to hammer home the idea that this affliction, this difficulty, this struggle that is being endured is actually coming from a place of love. It is a tell-tale sign that God loves you. The way you can understand that is to remind yourself that the purpose of the discipline is to draw you back to God. So the discipline, even though it feels isolating and heavy, has the purpose of bringing us closer to God. It comes from God and it is for the purpose of making us closer to God. That is how we know it is rooted in love.
I encourage you to spend time thinking about verse 11 where we learn that after the struggle is the “peaceful fruit of righteousness” once we have been trained in discipline. “Trained” lends itself to a long process over time. “Peaceful” shows us that the chaos and struggle is not a permanent part of what we endure.
What do you think the peaceful fruit of righteousness looks like in your life?
How does verse 12-13 fit into all of these ideas from today?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 5
Read Psalm 94
I am sure you are feeling the same thing I am, we have about exhausted this subject of discipline! Which is the very thought that we were warned about in our key text from Sunday, “do not despise the discipline of the Lord…” So let’s go at it again from this Psalms perspective. This one does an interesting job of tying the ideas of rest and discipline together. I thought that was a bit odd at first, until I spent some time thinking about it.
We have sort of talked about three versions of discipline this week, the discipline of pre-error correction (instruction), the discipline of repeated action that trains us in right (the ideas behind Bible reading and exercise) and the discipline of correction when there is a wrong. Think about the idea of rest with each one of these. The discipline of pre-error correction has at its goal an idea of rest because you do not end up in the chaotic and disordered. It seeks rest by avoiding chaos. The discipline of repeated actions or training seeks rest in delayed results. The idea is if I do this now, then the rest will be ahead because of what I am doing. The discipline of correction is the idea that this struggle and pain is for the purpose of not experiencing the chaos again, a rest for the next time. This all makes sense. The reason I discipline my kids in all of these areas is rooted in the idea of wanting them to experience rest and not turmoil. Even the introduction of a turmoil to lead to a future rests makes sense. It is interesting that the Psalmists uses the word that we have seen over and over again about the disciplined one, they are “blessed.” Remember, this can be translated as the “good life.”
Give an example of each of the three categories of discipline as you have experienced them recently:
Doing these devotions each week is a great form of repeated action discipline that doesn’t necessarily have an immediate benefit. The Psalmist talks about the teaching of God’s law like this. How has the repeated action of reading God’s word had long term results in your life?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
I am sure you are feeling the same thing I am, we have about exhausted this subject of discipline! Which is the very thought that we were warned about in our key text from Sunday, “do not despise the discipline of the Lord…” So let’s go at it again from this Psalms perspective. This one does an interesting job of tying the ideas of rest and discipline together. I thought that was a bit odd at first, until I spent some time thinking about it.
We have sort of talked about three versions of discipline this week, the discipline of pre-error correction (instruction), the discipline of repeated action that trains us in right (the ideas behind Bible reading and exercise) and the discipline of correction when there is a wrong. Think about the idea of rest with each one of these. The discipline of pre-error correction has at its goal an idea of rest because you do not end up in the chaotic and disordered. It seeks rest by avoiding chaos. The discipline of repeated actions or training seeks rest in delayed results. The idea is if I do this now, then the rest will be ahead because of what I am doing. The discipline of correction is the idea that this struggle and pain is for the purpose of not experiencing the chaos again, a rest for the next time. This all makes sense. The reason I discipline my kids in all of these areas is rooted in the idea of wanting them to experience rest and not turmoil. Even the introduction of a turmoil to lead to a future rests makes sense. It is interesting that the Psalmists uses the word that we have seen over and over again about the disciplined one, they are “blessed.” Remember, this can be translated as the “good life.”
Give an example of each of the three categories of discipline as you have experienced them recently:
- The discipline of instruction or before an error.
- The discipline of repeated action or thought to help keep you on the right path.
- THe discipline of correction because of an error.
Doing these devotions each week is a great form of repeated action discipline that doesn’t necessarily have an immediate benefit. The Psalmist talks about the teaching of God’s law like this. How has the repeated action of reading God’s word had long term results in your life?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
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