Hebrews 12:4-10
Some fathers are good men, and some are bad men. Seldom is a bad man a good father, and quite often even a good man is not a good father. Being a good father is not easy. It is not enough to have good intentions; the father must also have good parenting skills. He must discipline his children in a way that is for their benefit and their good. Discipline is more than just punishment; it is training. That training may involve punishment, but it will also involve reward and repetitive practice. It will involve both teaching by example and teaching by the spoken word. The purpose of fatherly discipline is to raise children that are mature and righteous. Fathers fall short of that goal for many reasons. It is almost impossible to raise godly children when the parent is ungodly. An immature father is not going to be able to discipline consistently. Even a mature and righteous father can fall short in his disciplining despite his best effort; after all, no human father is perfect.

In the culture of Hebrews, an illegitimate child could not inherit, and was often abandon by the father. When the father took an interest in raising the child, it was proof that he considered the child his own. When we become Christians, we become children of God. God validates our legitimacy by training us to be mature and righteous. Unlike human discipline, God’s discipline is always what we need most. It never misses the mark, or comes up short. He rebukes us when we are unrighteous, and He will punish us if we willfully begin to disobey. Studying scripture and meditating on the word is godly discipline. Sometimes discipline is hard to accept, and we would like the Christian life to be easier. God’s discipline has a purpose. It trains us to be like Christ, to walk upright and holy. Just as a coach trains an athlete for victory, God is training us for righteous living. In righteousness, we harvest the fruit of peace.