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"Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid."
(Proverbs 12:1, ESV)
In the Student Ministry world, Wednesday nights are where the action is! It is a time where even some non-church-goers will go to a fun Wednesday night activity at a church. It is when students look forward to coming up to the church, hanging out with their friends, and having lots of fun. That said, with all of the fun and excitement, sometimes there are accidents.
I remember one Wednesday night, the 7th and 8th grade boys were throwing a football indoors. Now, were they supposed to be throwing the ball indoors? No... but they are 7th and 8th grade boys and therefore have selective hearing and memory like Dory from Finding Nemo (at least for rules). On this specific night, everyone was having a great time, when all of a sudden...
WHAM!
The loud noise obviously got everyone's attention, including mine. To my surprise, a light fixture that should have been suspended twenty feet in the air was on the ground in a thousand pieces. Amidst the pieces of glass was another item. You may have guessed it by now, but that item was a football. Now, the nice thing about J-High students is they point to whoever did the dumb thing, so I immediately found the delinquent who had thrown the football. (I promise I do love my students!)
Correcting and training J-High students is part of my role as their pastor. It is something that I take very seriously and have to do quite often! One thing I love about J-High students is, for the most part, they genuinely hear correction and take advice. They do not enjoy or look forward to correction, but they listen to it. They receive it, and they learn from it. Does this mean I will never have a broken light fixture again? Absolutely not! I am not that naive. But the approach most of my students take to correction and discipline is one that I want in my own life.
I want to be someone who accepts corrections, and like Proverbs says, loves discipline! The Holy Spirit lives inside us believers. Part of His role is to discipline us and convict us when we are sinful. Are we people who love the discipline of the Holy Spirit? Do we view it as conforming us to Christ's image? ...or do we view it as mere suggestions, or worse, unwanted chastisement? I want to be a believer who, when the Holy Spirit of God living in my heart convicts me, I take it to heart and end up looking more like Jesus because of the discipline and conviction. What about you? Is there something the Holy Spirit is wanting to convict you of or discipline you for? May we be people who love discipline because we know it makes us look more like Jesus! May we be people who learn from broken light fixtures!
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