Encouraging - Discipline

Our loving father has given us the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin. Conviction is a form of God’s discipline and serves as proof that we have become children of God (Heb 12:5-11). It warns us against making choices without regard to either God’s truth or sin’s consequences. If we choose to be unresponsive to the Holy Spirit, our heavenly Father will discipline us in love. Many people do not understand the difference between discipline and punishment…On the cross, Jesus bore all the punishment we deserve; therefore, we no longer need to fear punishment from God for our sins. We should seek to do what is right so that our Father will not have to correct us through discipline, but when we are disciplined, we should remember that God is correcting us in love. This discipline leads us to righteous performance, a reflection of Christ’s righteousness in us.

Robert S. McGee, The Search For Significance: Seeing Your True Worth Through God's Eyes (Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN: 2003), 47-48.