Question: “How does God chastise His children when they sin or are in disobedience and could you please give examples?”
Answer: Thanks for your question! God disciplines His children the same way a loving father would discipline. The Scriptural support for His discipline is found in Hebrews 12:6-11. Here are some take aways from that passage:
- God disciplines from the position of love, not anger.
- Discipline is to be expected because it is the responsibility of a father to correct his child.
- God does not discipline His children from a fleshly (sinful) perspective.
- The goal of Gods discipline is to bring us into proper fellowship with Him.
- God’s discipline may not be joyous in the act but, when properly responded to, it yields peace and experience. Also, Gods children are supposed to learn reverence to Him through discipline.
When a lost man believes on Jesus for the salvation of his soul, he becomes a child of God (John 1:12, Galatians 3:26). Therefore, God is now his Father, and the child of God is now subject to correction from Him. God has expectations for His children and will hold them to these expectations (1 Thessalonians 4:1, 7; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; Romans 12:2; Colossians 1:10; 1 John 3:22, etc.) As we obey, we receive future rewards at the judgement seat of Christ. As we disobey, we experience a lesser quality of fellowship (1 John 1:6) and a loss of rewards at the Judgement Seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). It’s difficult to give exact examples because every child of God is different. I rest in this thought; God is perfect and therefore His discipline will be perfect. It is up to me to respond appropriately.
I pray this helps you, brother!