This Proverb says, “Stripes that wound scour away evil, and strokes reach the innermost parts.” Discipline may be painful. However, it is a good thing when it turns a person away from sin. Discipline provides the necessary motivation to pursue the right path.
I grew up in the 1950s. During that era, fathers discipline their children for wrongdoing. Sometimes they disciplined physically with a spanking. This physical discipline was effective in motivating children to behave and be obedient to their parents. As a result, families were strong and raised honorable adults who tended to choose right over wrong. This is no longer the case.
Discipline is not only good and effective when applied to children, it is also effective for adults. God punished King David severely for committing adultery with Bathsheba. God’s punishment turned David back to living rightly before God. David wrote in his Psalms, “Before I was afflicted I went astray.” David knew the benefit of discipline.
The Bible says that God disciplines those He considers His children. Conversely, He doesn’t seem to discipline those who are given over to sin. David expressed concern for this until he realized that these people are on a slippery slope to destruction. God does not consider them to be his children. Rather they are children of Satan. They are headed for spiritual death. Therefore, if God punishes us for sinning we should feel fortunate that God considers us to be His children.
