I learned something new while reading Hebrews this week! 12: 6-8 says,
“For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.”
To be honest, these verses have always bugged me!😒 I don’t want to be disciplined any more than my kids did when I sent them to the laundry room for their discipline. So, I find it hard to do what the writer quotes from Proverbs 3:11, “Do not despise the chastening of the Lord.”
How can I not despise it? I think every child hates the idea of getting a spanking, and I, as an adult hate the idea of getting punished as well!
So, how do I live out this verse?
Here is what I learned (I am going to get a little geeky with the Greek!). The word “discipline” is:
παιδείας (paideias)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3809: from the word paideuo; tutorage, i.e. Education or training; by implication, disciplinary correction.
With that in mind, the verse can read: “For the Lord trains (or educates) the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”
Wait a minute….I don’t hate that idea as much when the word train is used instead of discipline. It’s not talking about getting sent to the laundry room for defiant behavior! It’s more like how I “trained” my kids to brush their teeth, for example. For a while there, I had to remind one of my sons, often, to brush his teeth before going out to play in the morning. If my son forgot to brush his teeth, his friend had to wait at the door until my son did what was expected of him and then be able to play. Eventually, I had to “chastise” my son. I verbally scolded him for making his friend wait, and not caring about the health of his teeth, which would make him vulnerable to cavities. (I’m glad to report, he learned the good habit and has integrated it into his morning routine without needing the reminder).
To elaborate on this analogy, I didn’t ask his friend waiting at the door if he had brushed his teeth. I didn’t care if he had or had not; he wasn’t my child. I cared more about my son’s teeth than his. If I didn’t care to “train” my son in matters that would help him grow to a mature young man, what kind of parent would I be?
This is the point the writer of Hebrews was making. It makes this section of scripture way easier to understand. God is not using the times of suffering as a discipline for something we have done wrong. Whew!
Rather, He is actively training us (perhaps using suffering at times in our lives) to grow us up into maturity.
I love getting new insights into verses that I have had trouble with in the past!
😊
Is this a new way for you to look at these verses as well? Or, am I the only one who had never heard the different ways this Greek word can be translated?
😜