And ye have quite forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons My son, despise not [the] chastening of [the] Lord, nor faint [when] reproved by him;
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for whom [the] Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.
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Ye endure for chastening, God conducts himself towards you as towards sons; for who is the son that the father chastens not?
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But if ye are without chastening, of which all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
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Moreover we have had the fathers of our flesh as chasteners, and we reverenced [them]; shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?
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For they indeed chastened for a few days, as seemed good to them; but he for profit, in order to the partaking of his holiness.
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But no chastening at the time seems to be [matter] of joy, but of grief; but afterwards yields [the] peaceful fruit of righteousness to those exercised by it.
Hebrews 12:11 admits something hard and promises something good in one breath: discipline hurts now, and it pays later. But the promise has one condition — the fruit comes only to "those who have been trained by it."
The verse does not soften the experience, and commentators are quick to say why. If correction could be arranged so that it caused no pain, it would stop being correction at all.
Samuel RidoutThe writer goes on to say that "for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant." Do you know what we all wish for? A kind of discipline that does not hurt — one that might even be a pleasure to go through. But that would be no discipline at all. It has to be painful, or it is not discipline.
That means grief itself is not a failure of faith. What God objects to is a different set of reactions.
A. PridhamRestlessness, or indifference, or despair are all alike sin. Sorrow is not. God expects Christians to call bitter things bitter. Suppose they do. Suppose by faith they see whose hand is giving the grief, and accept the trial as a sign from the Father. Then trouble will produce patience. Patience draws them into deeper dealings with God, and that gives them a fuller experience of Him and of His way.
The promise hangs on a word that means effort, not sitting still. One writer traces it back to its root.
F. B. HoleThe great thing is to be exercised by our troubles. Discipline means trouble. The verse itself says no discipline seems pleasant at the time. And exercise means we turn our troubles into a spiritual gymnasium. The Greek word used here is the one our English word "gymnasium" comes from. Gymnastics for the body have some profit, as 1 Timothy 4:8 tells us. Gymnastics for our spirits bring great spiritual profit. They lead to both holiness and righteousness.
In practice this means asking what the trouble is for, not just waiting for it to pass.
Edward DennettGod wants us to feel the discipline. He wants to produce in us self-judgment and humbling before Him. That is why the blessed result comes only to those the discipline exercises. If His hand upon us produces no exercise of soul, there will be no blessing.
Because the fruit is conditional, the same trouble can end in two opposite places. Suffering by itself guarantees nothing.
A. PridhamThe clearest proof that discipline has done good is that the sufferer is conscious of more peace. But where God's dealings are not recognised by faith, this cannot happen. Endurance on its own, with no stirring of the spirit, only hardens the sufferer and drags him down.
The fruit shows up first in a will that has stopped fighting.
J. N. DarbyGod does not expect us to enjoy these exercises of soul at the time. If they were pleasant, they would not do their work. But afterwards, once the will is broken, they produce the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Pride comes down when a man has to submit to what he never wanted. God also takes a larger and ever more precious place in his thoughts and in his life.
The change shows up in a person's temperament.
Hamilton SmithIf we work through His dealings with us before the Father, hardship will not sour us or make us bitter. It will soften us and mellow us. In the end the character of Christ shows in us, and we bear fruit.
One word in the verse points past the trouble to the result.
J. T. MawsonWise people look ahead to the afterward — the result of the trial. This result does not hang in the balance, the way the outcome of some great battle may hang for hours and days. God guarantees it. We only stand to gain if we are exercised by the trial.
Behind the pain stands a purpose that was thought out in advance.
A. J. PollockWhat God brings on the believer is not just the product of divine goodness. It is the deliberate planning of divine love. However severe the trial, however deep the pain, however hard the test, it only convinces us more of that clear, warm love which makes no mistakes. That love cares so much about God's purpose being worked out in us that it will not shrink back from using means that hurt. For the moment they bring a tear to the eye and make the whole body wince and shake.
- Planned — what reaches the believer is more than goodness. It is love planning on purpose, and that love will use means that make the body wince.
- Painful — correction that does not hurt would not be correction; God means it to be felt, and calling a bitter thing bitter is not sin.
- Exercised — the promise is for those trained by the trouble, who turn it into a gymnasium for the soul. Endurance that never sees God's hand only hardens.
- Afterward — the outcome does not hang in the balance like a battle; the exercised believer only stands to gain.
- Fruit — the will is broken, pride comes down, God fills a larger place, and the person emerges mellowed rather than soured.