Today’s passage: Hebrews 12:3-11
Helpful thoughts:
- We have struggles in this life from without and within. Hostility from without. Our own sin within.
- The more we taste and see the goodness of the Lord, the more we yearn for escape from the world and our own flesh. (2 Corinthians 5:1-2)
- God is progressively perfecting us. When he disciplines us, He always does it perfectly and for exactly the right reasons.
- When discipline does come, we have no need to ask whether it was needed, only if we are willing to learn, change and grow (Verse 11).
Questions to consider:
- What things make you weary in this life? What does the writer of Hebrews encourage you to do to avoid growing weary or fainthearted (Verse 3)? How can Jesus’ endurance strengthen our endurance?
- Why would God have to discipline His children? What kinds of sins do we quickly relate to needing God’s discipline? Why then does discipline sometimes surprise us?
- Is God’s goal to make you better than other people or to be just like Christ? How does this answer help us to better accept the Lord’s loving disciples when it does come?