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October 3, 2007

Gettin' a Lovin' Spankin'

by Shana Schutte

When I was a Texas public school teacher, I walked the hall of my middle school and an eighth grader's artwork of a red stop sign caught my eye. I wasn't intrigued because it was masterfully drawn, or was brightly rendered, but because the word "compassion" was scrawled over it in bold, black letters. Curious, I asked the English teacher about the assignment. "I instructed each student to illustrate a word from our weekly vocabulary list and show the word's meaning in their art," she said. I marveled at the young man's insight. Yes, I thought. Sometimes it is compassionate to say stop.

Discipline is God's compassion and His way of stopping us from hurting ourselves and others. It's like a mother who screams, "Son! Get out of the street!" then spanks him to let him know she means business about his safety.

Even though it's not pleasant at the time, it brings me great comfort to know that because my Father loves me, that He'll give me a lovin' spankin' when I "run out in the road." Because I've lived long enough to get a glimpse of what I'm capable of, I count on His discipline and good judgment to save me from myself. God is a good parent because He does not ignore the danger that could ruin me--to do so would show a serious lack of love.

Maybe at this point you're squirming in your chair because you've never known discipline done in love. For you, it's always been coupled with rejection, pain or shame. Take heart in Psalm 101:1 in which David wrote, "I will sing of your love and justice." Because God is loving and does not change, that means His discipline and justice are not mutually exclusive; and that they must be meeted out under the umbrella of His care and compassion. He never gives us a spankin' out of anger or just to punish--it's always to bless.

Don't you agree with David that this is something to sing about?

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