Proverbs 3:11–12 (KJV 1900) — 11 My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; Neither be weary of his correction: 12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Permissiveness is not love. If we can understand God’s motive in chastening us, it will help us not to despise His chastening and not to be weary of His correction. God chastens His children because He love them, just a a wise and loving father disciplines the son in whom he delights. Loving parents do not discipline their children to hurt them or to keep them from having fun. They discipline them because of the inherent danger of unwise acts and in order to develop in them the character necessary to be strong adults.

Love, not anger, produces the desired result in discipline.

Psalm 6:1 (KJV 1900) — 1 O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

Reminder: These devotions are excerpted from my book Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World: Proverbs. They do not reproduce the complete commentary, which is available at pentecostalpublishing.com and also as a Kindle download at amazon.com and as an Apple book (previously referred to as iBook)

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