WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE? I have been pondering that statement for a few days. I don't have a corner on love at all. Sometimes I am not as loving as I should be...other times I am more loving than I think I am. Either way, there is a sweet spot where love is both redemptive and corrective. God lives in that sweet spot... sometimes I show up there too, but more often than not, it is one or the other.
When your younger kids do things they should not do, you correct them. Sometimes you discipline them. Why do we go to the trouble of doing that? I think for most parents it is not because we want to be right...it is not a power trip. It is more that you want to save your child the grief and sorrow of making those mistakes that you made ( or that others have made). So you try to get your point across. Rarely did I ever have one of our kids say,"You know dad, I am glad you spanked me... I needed that... It really corrected my behavior." They didn't like being disciplined, but they knew that we did it because we love them.
In "church world" discipline has taken a back seat to grace, mercy, and forgiveness. That is not all bad at times...but we can not escape the fact that God disciplined his children (his people) because he loved them.
The writer of Hebrews says, "Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on however, it produces a harvest of righteousness ad peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12: 10-11
The point of disicipline is clear... it produces "righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."
And that is the problem... none of us wakes up in the morning and tells God, "discipline me today so that I can have peace and more righteousness." There has to be other ways to get peace and righteousness, or so we think. But if the truth be known, I learn more through discipline. I learn more through times of sorrow. I learn more through the struggles of life.
As I get older I don't go looking for discipline from God, but as it comes, I am learning to go with it and sometimes embrace it. I want more righteousness in my life. I want more peace. If that means God has to be involved in some corrective work in my life, then so be it. He knows best. He is my Father. He also answers the first question I asked... What does love look like? It looks like a Heavenly Father who is willing to do whatever it takes to help me see that His ways are the best ways for me to live.
I will put my life in His loving hands trusting that His plan is the best for me.
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