Walk Of Life – Day 23 – February 2022 – Thoughts From The Book Of Proverbs – Love!

LOVE CHASTISEMENT

Proverbs 23:13 “Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.”

Proverbs 22:6 a verse that relates to today’s devotion says, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ This is what the law of God says. However, the law of this world is contradictory as always to the law of God. Children, youngsters and adults are not being trained in the way they should go, but are being given the freedom to explore ways by themselves and take decisions on their own, learn by their experiences and finally come to the right path if it ever happens. This worldly law has been leading many children, youngsters and adults to a great danger.

Training or correction in a believer’s life is very much needed. Once we realize the purpose of training, we would never reject it. Training includes several steps that encourage us to love it.

1. Acceptance: In what do you feel free, in correcting your child or in correcting other’s child? We feel free to correct our own children, we scold them, beat them, because we love them and we know that we own them. When you are being corrected by the Lord, feel happy that you are accepted by Him as His own. In the same way when God has placed you in an assembly of believers and you do not feel the need to correct those who are going astray, that means that you have not accepted them as your own.
2. Responsibility: When you are being corrected by an elder of your Church or family understand that he/ she has taken the responsibility to train you and also to be accountable to God in this regard.
3. Chastisement: We read in today’s verse regarding correction. Correction is one of the important steps in the process of training. Do not get flabbergasted when you undergo correction. It is very much needed in a believer’s life. Without which we might go to a great destruction. Though we suffer little pain, it is worth than being thrown into the fire.
4. Exemplary life: The Lord Jesus Christ is our perfect example. When we keep Him as our role model, we correct our lives, form our lives just like His. This shows us how our life should be when we are living in an assembly. We do not know who is watching us. We might not know that few youngsters, children even adults at times consider us as their role model. So, live an exemplary life to others, only then does your word have positive effect.
5. Rejoice: The end result of a training process is either despair or joy. When you are being trained by the Lord Jesus and through Him it is always joy but never despair.

Love chastisement for it is a great privilege to be accepted, cared, and corrected by the Lord Jesus, our only perfect role model.