Living by the fear of the Lord—a reverent belief in the God of the Bible, exclusively loving, obeying, and worshiping the One you will give an account to—will involve the Lord convicting, rebuking, chastening, and disciplining you. Why does he do that, and how should you respond? God wants to make you more like Christ, and so disciplines, chastens, teaches, trains, and instructs those he loves to shape their character and protect them from folly. He reproves and corrects through his Word, pointing out sin and error. God shows his love for you by training you to be wise! How should you respond to God’s loving discipline and rebuke? Fundamentally, how you respond is a spiritual issue that shows where your heart really is—if you really fear the Lord. Don’t respond to loving rebukes by rejecting them—that is the opposite of trust and faith. Don’t resent, get upset, or hate God’s chastening—you must change your feelings and attitudes so they are in line with God.

1. Think about the training and discipline people do for sports—what is ultimately play, diversion, and recreation. Are you willing to be trained and disciplined by the Lord for his glory and wise living that has benefit for this life and eternity (1 Tim 4:8)?
2. When a Christian brother or sister lovingly talks to you about a sin issue, how should you respond? How do you respond?
3. Whose world is this? Does he know how life should be lived? What if God just let you go your own way—what would happen?
4. Ultimately how you respond to God’s discipline shows whether you believe God or you think you know what is best.
5. Check out Hebrews 12:3-11.