GOD'S TOUGH LOVE

GOD’S TOUGH LOVE

    “Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?  For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.  Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

Hebrews 12:9-11 (NKJV)

    “Tough Love  Another version of "being cruel to be kind". To show somebody some tough love today will save them heartache in the future but may cause a small amount of upset for the receiver immediately after the "Tough Love" has been dispensed. They would suffer more if you let them get on with their life with no interference from third parties.”  Urban Dictionary

    “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."  So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.” Gen 11:7-8 (NKJV)

    God created mankind in His own image and He wishes for our success.  God’s purpose was for humanity to spread over the Earth.  The Tower was being built in opposition to God.  God created panic by confusing language and probably different physical characteristics (skin color, etc.).  “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.” 

    “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,  so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”  Acts 17:26-27 (NKJV)

    Goodness and severity.

    “For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.  Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”  Romans 11:21-23 (NKJV)

    And, it is important to remember that our unchanging God is the same God who banished our first parents from paradise due to disobedience, flooded the world due to sin, and sent His only begotten Son to earth to suffer and die to reconcile us with Him. God remains the same today as He was yesterday.

    Chastisement - discipline.

    “So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?  My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either.  It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.  God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God?  We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live?  While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best.  At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.”

Heb 12:5-11 (MSG)

    Life is on-the-job-training for Eternity.

    “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see.   The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.   By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see.”

Heb 11:1-3 (MSG)

    “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life--  the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us--  that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.  And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”  1 John 1:1-4 (NKJV)

    “Living in the light means that the believers will see that they are sinners, but they will also realize that Jesus is their Advocate to make them right with God” —NLT Study Bible