Hebrews 12:4-10 New International Version

4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.

 

First Impression?

Discipline is a positive. Negative consequences are a law of nature.

4 – shedding your blood – What does this mean to you?

I had no idea until someone read a different version and I realized it meant you haven’t died yet. Martyrdom was the outcome of the life of each disciple. We should expect no less if we are living for Christ.

5 – Where is this from?

Psalm 94:12. Someone looked it up. I only knew if was from the Old Testament. Only goal was to remember the author used the Bible as his source.

6 – What was your worst punishment ever, by God?

The worst for me is an ongoing hurt from losing friendships I was not strong enough to keep.

7 – How did you discipline your kids?

The biggest outcome I sought was for us to recognize that we went pretty easy on our kids. They could take more, but we were not smart enough to know when more was going to help them.

8 – not legitimate – What does this mean?

In this spiritual sense, it represent all those who reject God and do not see the opportunities to learn from our failures and become more Christ like.

9 – Do you respect your dad?

My dad was not impactful in my life and earned none of my respect when I was a kid. The issues that led to this were the joint responsibility of my parents and I have tried to work through my inability to understand and forgive them while they were living, but I know I respected my mom for providing the discipline she did to me.

10 – How does what our parent did differ from holiness as the goal?

This was a new thought for me. I had not looked at my parenting goal as creating holy kids. I just wanted sinners who knew they were forgiven. I do now have a better perspective and want them to live lives that reflect the love of Christ. Maybe I can still get a little discipline thrown in for the little one to help that too.