December 15

Dec 15 – Today from Proverbs 15 we look at verse10
"Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die."

The path before us is the path of righteousness (verse 14). To many in our modern culture, stern discipline doesn’t fit well into the concept of God’s love. Today’s gurus tout the popular liberal banner of "True Love is Tolerance". Morality is relevant only to the fabrication of one’s own reality. They claim that ‘God’ comes to us in many forms and gives us many choices as to how we will worship Him. Because this wonderful universal God is so lovingly tolerant with the diversity in which man sees and worships Him, tolerance becomes a virtue that is high on the values list. Much higher than the narrow definition of morality as defined by the Christian community which patterns their moral code after the antiquated laws observed by the ancient cultures of the Bible. They teach that God loves those who are sincere in their pursuit of Him, no matter what path they have chosen. If all of mankind would just adopt this wonderful virtue of tolerance, we would all get along and we would all find our own way to God – He would make sure of that because He loves us so much. This is the old cult of ‘Universalism’ dressed in a new garb. It sounds so nice – but it defiantly flies in the face of God’s Word.
Stern discipline is a very real aspect of God’s love. We see it in the pattern of our own family life. A loving parent instructs their child in ways of proper behavior. As the child embraces and applies the parent’s instruction, there is peace and harmony in the home. If the child rejects the parent’s instruction and displays behavior that disrupts family life, the parent disciplines the child. Not because they hate, or even dislike the child, but because they love the child. They want to see their child grow to be an asset to the community, not a liability. They desire to see their child walk a path that will enhance the child’s character and bring honor to the family name. "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." (Hebrews 12:11).
Discipline is administered as a means of correction. Its motivation is to be that of love, not destruction. It is the attitude of the recipient of discipline who determines whether the discipline is corrective or destructive. Verse 12 in today’s chapter states that "a mocker resents correction." The mocker creates his own reality and pursues his own path in life. He mocks the moral code of God’s Word, and refuses to be corrected by it. The Teacher soberly warns that such an attitude will end in death. That’s where the ‘broad path’ of Universalism leads (Matthew 7:13). God is love, but He is not tolerant with those who reject His instruction and resent His correction.