Ouch. Thank you.

As I look back on my childhood, one of the things that stands out is that my parents disciplined me...

A lot. 

When I say "a lot", I dont want you to misunderstand me. I wasn't getting spankings every single day.

Or maybe I was. 

I can't remember. 

My therapist tells me that my memory of these traumatic experiences will come back at some point.

I'm just kidding. I don't have a therapist.

I have 6. 

Now, I understand that there are some out there who strongly suggest that corporal punishment is damaging to a child's delicate psyche, but my parents were not in that particular group. 

No, they were in a different group.

My parents belonged to a group that bought leather belts and fly swatters for more than one reason, and those reasons had nothing to do with a "psyche".

In fact, belt loops and flies probably felt quite neglected around our house. 

You see, my parents belonged to a group of people that believed that the damage done to a child by NOT spanking them was far greater than the damage done by the spanking itself.

I suspect that if Dr. Spock had showed up at my house with all of his "Don't spank your child" nonsense, my Dad would have taken off his belt and spanked him (which is a pretty funny visual image, actually...my Dad spanking Dr. Spock). 

By the way, when I say Dr. Spock, I'm not talking about the one from Star Trek; I'm talking about the author. 

Although I do believe that the Spock from Star Trek would've gotten a spanking too because my Mom probably would've interpreted his "live long and prosper" hand signal as some kind of rude gesture. She was very sensitive about those things. 

And she HATED pointy ears. 

Pointy ears=automatic spanking.

To get back to the point, I firmly believe that I am the person that I am today, to a large degree, because of the discipline that I received as a child. 

I am thankful for it. 

One of the things that I appreciate about the discipline that I received as a child is that my parents always let me know why I was being disciplined. 

I didn't exactly appreciate it at the time, but I do now. 

"Jeremy, do you know why you're getting this spanking?"

"Yes. Because you're a mean person and you hate me."

"No. But that's why you're getting the next one, though."

I remember that my punishments were always accompanied by an explanation of why they were happening. My parents wanted me to know that this wasn't arbitrary; they weren't a couple of psychos who enjoyed beating children (which makes me remorseful for calling them that as a child); they were doing this...you guessed it...

..."for my own good."

The Bible tells us that if we are a child of God, we will be disciplined by our heavenly Father. In fact, we are told in Hebrews 12:8, that if we are not disciplined by God, we are not His children. 

The question is not, "Am I being disciplined by God?", but rather, "HOW is God disciplining me right now, and what does He want me to learn from it?"

However, as is the case when we are children, we may choose to approach the discipline of God in several ways:

1. We can blame others for our discipline/punishment and refuse to accept responsibility for it. 

2. We can be angry and bitter about our discipline/punishment and allow it to turn us further away from those who love us.

3. We can accept responsibility for our discipline/punishment and learn from it.

Psalm 38 is an example of someone (David, in this case) who was experiencing some very painful discipline from the Lord. Notice:

"...your arrows have sunk into me..."

"...your hand has come down on me..."

"I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart."

David realized, however, that this discipline was from the Lord:

"O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!"

"There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin."

David also knew that this discipline was meant to bring him closer to the Lord, not to drive him further away:

"But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer."

"Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!"

It astonishes me that so many people who claim to be children of God seem to be oblivious and out of tune to His discipline in their lives.

It seems that everything negative that happens in the lives of some "Christians" seems to cause them to either blame someone else or to turn on God Himself. 

They are like children who simply will not acknowledge their role in their relationship with their Father. 

Have we forgotten the purpose of discipline? Do we really believe that God is somehow against us? Are we even interested in becoming more like Him or have we reached a point where we no longer want to be bothered, spiritually?

Let me challenge you (and myself as well) to pay attention the next time something negative/painful/difficult comes up in your life. 

Ask yourself some questions:

"What did I just do (or NOT do) that God might be disciplining me for?"

"What is God trying to teach/show me through this?"

"How can I approach this situation in a way that will make me a better person/Christian?"

In other words, the next time God gives you a "spanking", make sure you are listening for the inevitable explanation that comes with it. 

You'll be thankful that you did...

Eventually.

And eternally.