Because I grew up as the only child in a single-parent household, my mother had to juggle being a mother and a disciplinarian. Without the balance of having both a mother and a father at home, it was hard for me to understand my mother’s efforts to assume these two different roles. However, Hebrews 12 offers me clarity on the love found behind discipline.
Of course with maturity comes self-discipline, and I can see this passage now as it relates to my growing up. My mother had a phrase she loved to use to encourage my self-discipline when she reminded me to stay focused in school and make good choices when among my peers. She often used this phrase in the form of a choice: Instant Gratification v. Delayed Gratification. I'm not sure where she picked up the term at the time, but I found it enlightening to discover a verse that seems to hold a similar meaning: Hebrews 12:11.
In practicing self-discipline, I've come to learn that following your senses alone is not enough in life. Our minds and bodies may tell us what pleases and what pains us, but there are truths beyond the instant feedback we first experience. Pain now doesn't necessarily mean pain later, and the same can be said for joy. Sometimes there are negative consequences we can’t see that loom just a little further down the road. Sometimes there are even greater joys that we will miss when indulging in easy pleasures here and now.
Turning away from bad habits can be difficult and even painful. However, we must practice faith and follow Jesus in our self-disciplines or else be disciplined by the Lord. Trust that the Lord knows the joys you must forego and the pains you might have to endure in order to gain the righteousness and peace that awaits you ahead.