A counselor was conducting a family therapy session with the parents of a teenager who had been caught using drugs. The parents excused their daughter’s drug use, saying that it was no big deal and just a phase that most teenagers go through. After a while the counselor told the parents to leave the room and, turning to the daughter, asked her what she had heard. She replied, “I heard that they don’t love me.”
The counselor realized that the daughter was dabbling in drugs to get her parents’ attention. If she had felt genuinely loved by them, she would have wanted to love them back by choosing not to disobey.
Like that daughter, I often disobey my heavenly Father. My sin distresses me, and I beg God to help me love Him more. While this isn’t a bad thing to pray, Paul says that it’s even more important that we understand how much God loves us. Only when we appreciate “how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is” will we be eager to love Him back (Ephesians 3:18).
Consider the many ways God continually loves you. He overcame incalculable odds just to bring you into existence, and ever since then He has sustained your life with food, family, and friendship. He gave His life for you, dying on the cross so you might live with Him forever.
He didn’t go to all this trouble to let you drift away, so He “disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child” (Hebrews 12:6). No child enjoys boundaries and discipline, but imagine how you’d feel if God didn’t care. God loves you too much to shrug at your sin, so rejoice when you feel His firm hand of discipline. It means you are loved.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Matthew 25:31-46
More:
Read Hebrews 12:1-13 to learn how our Father wants us to respond when He disciplines us.
Next:
What does it mean if you sin repeatedly and don’t receive a divine rebuke? Why is it so vital that you receive God’s loving discipline?
lizet on September 10, 2011 at 9:49 am
Praise God for His wisdom, He constantly reminds us of the greatness of His love. Thank you mike..
lukesmother on September 10, 2011 at 11:04 am
Thank you Lord for “the plans you have for us. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I love you Lord! Help me to remember that when I have dark days….
lindagrace on September 10, 2011 at 7:38 pm
Lately i’ve been asking myself, how does God punishes his children? Please help.Can God punish us through sickness?
lindagrace on September 10, 2011 at 7:39 pm
Lately i’ve been asking myself, how does God punishes his children? Please help.
tcarr89 on September 10, 2011 at 10:22 pm
I’ve been wondering that too :/ and also, the “Next” box: What *does* it mean when we sin repeatedly and seem to have no divine rebuke? 🙁 does it mean God’s stopped trying?
daisymarygoldr on September 11, 2011 at 2:55 am
Good Qs, lindagrace and tcarr89! God punishes His children as a last resort i.e. in the case of willful disobedience by unrepentant believers. In the Bible, the different ways God punished His people was through loss of finances, depression, oppression by enemies, pestilence, plagues, wars, famines, disease and premature death.
However, this does not mean that a Christian that suffers from any of the above—is being punished by God. These are general consequences of sin that all of us can possibly face because we live in a fallen world.
If we are truly God’s children, then we will not sin repeatedly. If there seems to be no divine rebuke, then it is the loving patience of God who is giving us plenty of opportunities to stop sinning. And those who consistently sin and not being rebuked clearly prove they are not God’s children and that He has given them over to their sin.
will77 on September 11, 2011 at 7:29 am
This scares me as I have strugled with alcohol, for a good portion of my life. I have had a greater time with it lately, and I sometimes feel like God has given up. I have cried out to God over and over and Im still have a hard time. I dont know what more to do than to ask forgivness and keep trying, otherwise I would just colapse and die in this pit
daisymarygoldr on September 11, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Will77, I don’t know where you are in your faith journey as a Christian. But what I want you to know is—the father never gave up on his prodigal son. In Luke 15:20, it read “And while (the son) was still a long way off, his father saw him coming.” Do you know why the father saw his son a long way off? He didn’t write him off as a hopeless cause but was waiting for his return.
God never gives up on His children but gives us over to our personal choices. God loves us enough to let us go so far in sin so that one day we will realize our mistakes and eventually come back to Him. When that day comes, you’ll discover that He has been standing at the door of your heart all along—waiting for you to let Him in.
tcarr89 on September 12, 2011 at 1:24 am
that’s kind of a relief. The last paragraph on your first response (at 2.55am) had me going “oh f***.”
will77 on September 12, 2011 at 6:13 am
I have walked with the Lord a long time, since I was asking Him in my heart at eight yrs old. I had some challenging things to work through as a child, and my walk has been like a roller coaster ride. I have been very involved at church with serving, as well as going on the mission field many times. My greatest times of worship with the Lord are in my closet, where the presence of the Lord is very strong. I jut seem to go throgh these cycles of up and down, and I dont see these type of people in the bible. Im 48 yrs old It should be more consistent by now. Having three teenagers and marriage gives me more than I know to do sometimes. I think my biggest problem is not realy feeling the love of God deep within. I know it by faith, but it has not saturated my heart.
Thank You for your response, I would greatly appreciate your prayer
God Bless
GChoo on September 12, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Will77, thank you for sharing about yourself and the situation you are in.
From what you have shared, i feel something unpleasant had happened during your childhood life that may have got you into some difficulties in your adult life. Pardon me if i am wrong. If it is so, i think you may need to seek for counselling (preferably from a christian counsellor) to confront and process your childhood problems, past and present conflict that may hinder your will to stop drinking when you are down. I believe through therapy and with your constant prayer and reading of God’s Word, you will be able to deal with life’s problem. Also, family support will greatly help your process.
So long as one day we live in this world, there will always be ups and downs in our lives. One thing we are sure of, our God is a FAITHFUL GOD and he is always there for us. He has promised us in Hebrews 13:5-6, … Never will i leave you; never will i forsake you. … the Lord is my helper; … What can man do to me? Be brave to confront your past and seek God because He is gracious and merciful. My prayer for you, Will77.
mike wittmer on September 12, 2011 at 8:11 am
These questions and responses are very helpful. I would only add that God is focused on our heart. If we desire to change and please him, he won’t punish us just because we fail. He disciplines those who actually need it–those whose hardened hearts prevent them from caring any more about their walk with him. These questions reflect broken hearts that care very much, so you don’t need to fear that God has given up on you.