Of Love and Punishment
When I was a kid, my dad often used a line on me that I didn’t understand: “I
only punish you because I love you!” It didn’t feel like love at the time, but
oh how wrong I was!
It’s not that I was particularly bad as a child. I was just stubborn. I loved my
father and wanted to please him, but it seemed that I constantly found myself
trying to test the boundaries and the limits he had established for my own good
and protection. I recall one particular incident from my very early childhood
quite vividly.
When I was 5 years old I had a certain wooden rocking horse that I was quite
fond of. The only draw back was that it wasn’t quite tall enough. I wanted to be
like the cowboys I saw in the movies, riding alongside trains and horse wagons,
guns blazing, in hot pursuit of some bandana masked criminal.
The solution to my problem came in the form of an old mahogany chest that my
parents kept in the living room, a wedding present from someone in the family.
The chest was incredibly heavy. It stood about 2 1/2 feet tall and had a soft
felt cushion on its top. Glancing around the room for something for which to set
my rocking horse on top of to gain some height, it didn’t take long before I
noticed the chest.
Excitedly, I drug my trusty steed over to it and managed to place it on top.
Climbing on top of the chest and then into my horse, I vaulted over the lateral
bars and slid my feet through the holes in the front and took a seat. Generally,
I would say that my parents kept a very watchful eye on me, but this time I
somehow managed to sneak one by them. The joy that came from gleefully rocking
my horse from my newly elevated position was indescribable. With determination,
I zeroed in on the bandit and almost had him in my sights when suddenly my dad
showed up to foil the impending shoot out. To this day, I still remember having
received a spanking and being sent to my room. Knowing my parents I am sure I
also received a lengthy lecture about how dangerous what I was doing was and how
I could have been seriously hurt. However, with the taste of the immediate joy I
had experienced riding atop my high horse still fresh in my mind it wasn’t long
before I was up to my schemes again. A couple days later I went for a second
attempt. Little did I know this time the joy would not be quite as sweet and the
punishment bitterer. When my mother and father caught me again, I did the worst
possible thing I could have done; I smiled.
“Oh no,” my father exclaimed, “You aren’t going to cutesy your way out of this
one!” The lesson I learned in all of this is that while sin and disobedience may
at first taste sweet, you can “be sure that your sin will find you out” (Numbers
32:33). I do not write to impose legalism on anyone, but I thank God that Jesus
Christ paid the ultimate price by becoming sin for us. Through His obedience
alone have we obtained righteousness! (2 Corinthians 5:21).
However, I believe the Bible is clear that even (perhaps especially) for those
of us whom are covered by His righteousness, we will still be chastised for our
sins (Hebrews 12:5-8). This Bible verse affirms that we should not despise the
chastening of the Lord, as I did my earthly father’s in my time of disobedience,
but rather we should be grateful to know that our chastening confirms our
salvation and is for our own good. We can rest assured knowing that God
disciplines us because He loves us and like any good Father, He always does what
is best for us, even if it isn’t enjoyable at the time. His chastening is the
process through which we are all being sanctified and transformed into the image
of His son, our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, strive in all things to be righteous and
holy, but when you do slip up, I urge you to not despise the Lord’s chastening,
but instead to embrace it as we do all things that we know to be good for us.
Zach Liston