The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 12:7-11, “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons;

for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are

illegitimate children and not sons.

9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall

we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us

for our good, so that we may share His holiness.

11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who

have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

This is a long passage, so I will try to be brief. The word discipline (??????? paideia) means

the rearing or training of a young child. Yet, no father disciplines the child of another man.

So, if you are not trained by the LORD, He simply does not see you as His son. Our earthly

fathers discipline us while we are young, so as to develop us for adulthood. Earthly fathers,

however, are not always correct, but they do what seems best to them at the time. Discipline

is not always pleasant. I told you what to do, and you’re not going until you get it done! And

you didn’t get to go because you hadn’t done what you were told. Boy! Parents!! But as you

get older, you understand. Sometimes having to deny a child something hurts the parents

more than it does the child. True! But the child has to become an adult before that is really

believed. ~ I was disciplined pretty severely at times. Gogie was a disciplinarian par excellance!

What I later learned was that her dad used to whip her and cry while he was doing it, saying,

“Sis, dad hates to do this, but it’s for your own good. You’ve got to learn…” I don’t know

whether he cried when he whipped his boys, but he was so severe that Mimi often had to

intervene saying, “Dad! That’s enough! Stop! That’s enough.” ~ No one, however, can

stop the discipline of the LORD. Pay close attention to what He tells you! There’s no Mimi,

who can stop Him. Sin has consequences. What you may not understand now, you will

understand in the years to come. You will then be at peace with all discipline.

Pray for your parents. Pray for your grandparents. We all pray daily for you!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas