“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Heb. 12:11 (ESV) The word “discipline” refers to instruction or training that includes correction, for example, in the raising of a child. Thus, the focus is not primarily on punishment for a wrong but rather the general overall training of a Christian. So Christian training is painful (or more accurately in the Greek: grievous) for us just as children become distressed when their parents move them to do something that does not feel good to them. Therefore, as Christians we embrace, and even expect, the distastefulness of the challenges and sufferings that come our way. We do not avoid our training. Rather, we keep our focus on Jesus and the way he is transforming our life to be more like his. Our training is like a fire that burns away our corruption. On the other side of the training we will experience greater peace for our soul since we have less inside us battling against God’s image in us and more of his nature controlling us so that our soul dwells in greater unity and harmony. Moreover, we find that we are becoming righteous, which means our life is more and more approved by God. What is a better motivation for embracing difficult training than God’s approval?
