"It's gonna hurt me more than it hurts you." How many times have those words been desperately said by a parent with tears in their eyes? How many times (in the heat of the moment) do children actually believe those words? Discipline is never truly understood by a child until a look at the reasoning behind it can be put into proper perspective. Discipline is hard for me because I think I know what I need and what I deserve. Then I get smacked upside the head and spiritually spanked. It's a good thing too. My perspective on things are so tunnel-vision. I have my own set of "righteous standards" that I would follow. God's are the ones that matter. I don't consider them a list of "do's" and "don't's"; however, they are a list of "I know what really matter's." God has set up boundaries around me. He doesn't smack me around over every thing. He lets me make my choices (even if they are wrong) because He loves me. When I am in danger of becoming so hardhearted and rebellious that I stop even caring, He allows the consequences of my actions and the conviction of the Holy Spirit to realign my thinking and actions. I still have to choose to listen though. God doesn't discipline me out of anger, malice, or hatred. He does it for the same reason that all real parents do. He refuses to allow me to stay the way I am, when He knows there is so much more for me. I am not His son by natural birth. He chose to adopt me, and it cost the life of His Son. Once I became an heir of His kingdom, He wouldn't dare leave me as an illegitmite child. He will keep me in line by His enduring love because He knows I am NOT THERE YET!