The Peaceful Fruit of Righteousness
I have come to realize that most people dislike discipline. This is true for self-discipline or discipline imposed by others. It is not just punishment that they dislike. It is the effort it takes or the pain that is involved in discipline that turns them off. Most people only want comfort and ease. This dislike of discipline has a serious result. If we do not have any discipline, we can't have the fruit or result of discipline in our lives. The Bible tells us that the peaceful fruit of righteousness is the result of discipline.(Hebrews 12:11) We all need to have that kind of fruit, but it only comes through discipline.
No one does the right thing automatically. Before we are saved we have a sinful nature that leads us to do the wrong things. After a person comes to know Christ, the sinful nature is dead, but the flesh is still alive, so we are tempted through the flesh to do the wrong things. The only way to consistently do the right things is to discipline ourselves to follow God's will. Sometimes, He disciplines us as a good Father, too. Then, we see what is wrong, and we know what the right thing is to do, and we begin to act in line with His will. That is righteousness. When we live in righteousness, we live in peace with Him and others for the most part, so we have the peaceful fruit of righteousness. This makes our lives much better than when we live in unrighteousness.
That is why we need to embrace discipline. We need to thank God when He corrects us, and we need to learn from His discipline. Then, we need to discipline ourselves to pray and to feed on His Word, so we know what to do and how to it. Then, in the power of the Spirit, we can live in righteousness. All of this comes through discipline.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 8-10 and Hebrews 13.
No one does the right thing automatically. Before we are saved we have a sinful nature that leads us to do the wrong things. After a person comes to know Christ, the sinful nature is dead, but the flesh is still alive, so we are tempted through the flesh to do the wrong things. The only way to consistently do the right things is to discipline ourselves to follow God's will. Sometimes, He disciplines us as a good Father, too. Then, we see what is wrong, and we know what the right thing is to do, and we begin to act in line with His will. That is righteousness. When we live in righteousness, we live in peace with Him and others for the most part, so we have the peaceful fruit of righteousness. This makes our lives much better than when we live in unrighteousness.
That is why we need to embrace discipline. We need to thank God when He corrects us, and we need to learn from His discipline. Then, we need to discipline ourselves to pray and to feed on His Word, so we know what to do and how to it. Then, in the power of the Spirit, we can live in righteousness. All of this comes through discipline.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 8-10 and Hebrews 13.