Listen up, little ones
Listen for the word son.
Reading
Hebrews 12:4-13-Painful Discipline
Optional Reading
Proverbs 3:1-12
Keys for kids
- Discipline can hurt.
- Loving parents discipline their children because they love them.
- All discipline is intended to help us peacefully obey God.
Questions
- How does God discipline his children?
- Why does God discipline his children?
- Should parents discipline their children? Why or why not?
Notes
(See Saturday for authors.)
Sometimes parents have to give discipline, and discipline can hurt. Some people say parents shouldn't discipline their kids because it hurts. But the Bible teaches that loving parents discipline their children, lovingly. Even if disciplining, don't exasperate your children (Col 3:21) nor provoke them to anger (Eph 6:4).
Some Christians say that in the New Testament God never punishes His people, only disciplines them. They say punishment is just to cause pain, while discipline is to help someone grow. But the Bible doesn't really make that big difference. God's discipline-even when it feels painful-is always meant to correct us and help us follow Him better.
Hebrews 12:6 quotes Proverbs 3:11-12 and says that God "chastises" or "scourges" the children He loves. That means He sometimes brings hard, painful things to us so we learn and grow.
And this is actually wonderful: God loves us too much to let us stay stuck in our sin. Even when He gives painful discipline, it's because He loves us. He has a goal for us-He wants us to grow the peaceful fruit of righteousness, which means living more like Jesus.
God disciplines us so we become more and more like Christ, the One we belong to by faith.
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 6a, 51d
Prayer
- Thank God for loving you even enough to discipline you.
- Pray for the hearing of God’s Word preached this Lord’s Day’s.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.