April 9

Apr 9 - Today from Proverbs 9 we look at verse 13
"The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge."

Once again we see the writer personifying an impersonal object to reveal the attribute of that object. In this section the object is folly. We immediately think of folly as a lack of good sense. The woman Folly then represents that in life which would cause us to live foolishly.
Folly is 'undisciplined'. Discipline has become controversial in our modern culture and seems to be something that people want to avoid. Because Folly is without knowledge, discipline has been mostly relegated to the 'evil' category. If you will remember from yesterday, evil is that which is harmful or injurious. Because discipline can seem painful or injurious, much of society wants to see it removed from our culture. Parents who spank their children are seen as abusers. For fear of lawsuits or dismissal, educators are no longer allowed to touch a rowdy trouble-maker who disrupts their classroom every day. Delinquent youth who get in trouble and are arrested 'know their rights', and are more often turned over to the custody of their parents (who never spanked them to begin with), rather than the courts. Church discipline is unheard of these days, "We are called to love one another, how can we inflict any pain on one of our own?" The fact of the matter is that discipline is not evil at all. Discipline is to be applied with knowledge -- the knowledge of verse 10 of this chapter, which reads "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
When done with sensitivity to the Lord and the boundaries He has established regarding discipline, discipline is an act of love. Not the emotional feel-good love of the world, but the tough love of God, applied to correct a damaging course of the object of His love. Foolish behavior inflicts harm, and must be corrected. A corrective word can be discipline, but if the subject does not listen it is not effective discipline. Losing a privilege can be discipline, but if the subject does not change the direction in which he or she is headed it is not effective discipline. Painful discipline is to be applied to strong-willed people. It is done for the purpose of establishing and instilling proper boundaries in the life of the subject. If left unattended, the subject will go through life disrupting the lives of others and causing real evil. Hebrews 12 tells us that it is because of God's love for us that He disciplines us. Verses 10 and 11 say, "God disciplines us for our good that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." This is the proper motive for and understanding of discipline. If discipline is never applied, the subject cannot be trained by it and they never develop proper boundaries in life.
As believers, we have an advantage. We have the indwelling Spirit of knowledge who gives us understanding if we will but learn to listen to His voice. We can appropriate God's grace in judging ourselves and applying self-discipline. We are, after all, to be disciples of Christ. Self-discipline is one of the purposes of the sacrament of Holy Communion. In regards to Communion, Paul instructs in 1 Corinthians 11:31, 32, "But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world." When we come to the table of Communion we are to have spent time prayerfully examining ourselves, asking the Holy Spirit to examine our own hearts, that we might apply self-discipline and repent of any area He reveals where we are out of bounds with God. This puts us back into proper communion with God, and with our fellow man.