“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent” - Revelation 3:19 (NIV).
Karen grew up in a home where at the snap of her finger she would get whatever she wanted. She had a room full of toys, which cost her parents, a fortune, and of which she threw about carelessly. Whenever she was asked to put anything in order Karen would throw such a big tantrum. At the dinner table Karen would leave the table all in a mess, and her parents would not dare tell for fear of her wild tantrums. “How can we upset Karen when we love her so much!” they wondered. One day they got a maid who started scolding her for bad manners. The maid didn’t last. “Karen gets what she wants,” they dismissed her. “She does what she likes.”
Karen was admitted to school. There she was always in trouble because she felt no one could stop her from getting whatever she wanted. One day Karen abused a teacher for asking her to do her homework. She was expelled. The parents felt the teacher and the school did not love their daughter. They now moved from school to school where again Karen would be thrown out. They were puzzled and felt teachers didn’t love Karen enough. “You need to practice tough love,” said one head teacher as she expelled her.
What is tough love? Some people have a misconception that to love someone they must never correct them for fear of offending them. They insist that that would be lack of love. This kind of belief has also entered the education system where some believe that children shouldn’t be given bad grades for it affects their self-esteem. Love is all about making someone feel good.
Now do you know what eventually happened to Karen? She not only failed to finish school but ended up in jail for law infractions. Her parent’s failure to discipline her for fear of upsetting her ruined her entire life.
Hebrew 12:6 says, “For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” And proverbs 13:24 says, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.” When we are in the wrong God does convict us of sin through the Holy Spirit and calls us to repent. Sometimes we suffer harsh consequences, so that we learn from our folly and do better. Tough love but with lasting fruits.
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, creator of heaven and earth, I thank you for your love for me, which when I am at fault does not hesitate to correct me, because you love me and have my interest best at heart, this I pray in Jesus’s name.
