⁷ Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:7 CSB)

I remember as a kid not liking being disciplined by my father. My kids did not like it either. But both my father and I were disciplinarians because we loved our children. We did not do it out of spite, but out of love.

Our Father in Heaven disciplines us out of love as well. He wants to see us grow in the image of His Son and not be conformed to this world. Thus, we may find ourselves enduring discipline to help better form us into this image.

This is an outward discipline. There is an inward discipline we must cultivate as well. If we want to endure and live less sinful lives we must build an internal discipline. Much like the runner who trains and disciplines his body to endure a race, we too must train to run our race with endurance.

What we must manage is how we look at the suffering part of discipline. Few look at suffering in a positive way, that is a very difficult task. But if we look at it as something that is bringing about something better, as in the case of the runners endurance, then we can at least see its value. It then begins to create in us a hope for improvement in which we can expect to gain strength to endure.