Do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves.
Hebrews 12:5-6, NIV
The New Testament teaches us that we are not to “make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son” (Heb. 12:5-6, NIV). God, as our loving Father, confronts us with our sin and convicts us of it in order to get us to confess. Because He knows if we do not confess and correct it, our misery will envelope us and we will live life at a very low level in comparison with the life He created for us.
If you and I resist confessing our sin when God brings it to our attention through our own Bible reading or through a spouse or a child or a friend or a pastor or just our own consciences, we harden our hearts. And a hardened heart is an impenetrable barrier in our relationship with God, in our enjoyment of His blessings, in our emotional and spiritual security, and in our eternal reward. A hardened heart is the core of a miserable life.
