Because He Loves You

Hebrews 12:6-13 – For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

Not too many people like to be punished. As children, we dreaded the punishment that would come after getting into trouble. Sometimes the wait was long and it added to our anxiety. We didn’t want to be punished and didn’t like it before or after, but there was a definite purpose behind it. Our parents punished us because they acknowledged what we did was wrong and they were not going to allow our behavior to continue – only to get worse. They loved us.

The Lord chastises everyone He loves. He chastises us to correct our sinful behavior. He displines us and places us in situations that will allow us to grow in righteousness. He loves you.

He wants each of us to be partakers of His holiness. He knows that without such holiness, we will not be with Him in eternity (Hebrews 12:14). So, He will do what it takes to save us. He will chastise you out of love. You are precious to the Lord.

We didn’t understand our parents loved us in the time of punishment, but it’s important that we do…and we understand the same about the Lord. He wants the weak areas of your body and life to be strong so that you may yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness through the exercising of your lives.

Because He loves you…

Photo courtesy of CreationSwap/MarianTrinidad