I love my children very much and I try within my ability to give them what they need, when they need it. In doing this however, I also realize that children grow up to be responsible adults when they are taught to be responsible. This is usually where the problem lies.



Every stage of a child’s life is a learning process. As he comes in contact with the world around him, he learns new things both good and bad. This is why good parents do all they can to teach their children the difference between what is good and what is bad. Some children understand why daddy and mummy do not like them doing certain things while others keep doing those things anyway because they either don’t understand why they can’t or the parents only told them it is bad without telling them why.

Discipline is an essential part of life for a loving parent. The Bible encourages us to discipline our children so that they are discouraged from doing what is wrong. Parents who pamper their children and refuse to discipline them, soon find out that they have created a huge problem not only for themselves but also for the society at large.

God is our perfect example of parenthood. He loves us with an undying love. However, part of the love package is discipline. In the Bible God speaks to the church, ‘I correct and discipline everyone I love. Take this seriously, and change the way you think and act.’ Rev 3:19.

Going through the book of Jeremiah, it  really struck me, to what extent  God could go to show that He loves us. At face value, one might struggle to understand how God could love someone and yet inflict pain on the person. However, when one considers why a mother would deny a child some pleasure for a period of time to correct him so that he will not become a problem to himself and society in the future, it begins to make sense.

Jeremiah had for many years foretold the destruction of Jerusalem. Time and time again the warnings came but Israel ignored those warnings and kept going their own ways, worshipping foreign gods and living sinful lives.

In Jeremiah 36, God spoke to Jeremiah, “Take a scroll, and write on it everything that I have dictated to you about Israel, Judah, and all the other nations from the time I spoke to you during the reign of Josiah until today.  Maybe the nation of Judah will hear about all the disasters that I plan to bring on them, and they will turn from their wicked ways. Then I will forgive their wickedness and their sins." (Verse 2 and 3)

At this time, Jeremiah had been declared ‘persona non grata’ at the temple and had to dictate God’s warnings to Baruch who wrote them down and read them out at the temple. What was the response of the people to this? As each page of the scroll was read to King Jehoiachim, he would cut it into pieces with a knife and throw it into the fire.

Eventually the armies of Babylon came and over-ran Jerusalem, burned the temple, killed many and took others hostage. It was a black day for the Jews and many wondered why God refused to deliver them from the hands of their enemies.

Today, we have the Bible as our book of instructions and warnings from God but just as the children of Israel ignored His word then, many of His children are ignoring it today and going their own way.

When the consequences of sin come knocking, the reaction of many is to go on the war path against satan and his demons. They would  rebuke, bind and decree, quoting God’s word, yet the situation would persist.

I am not saying that any believer who faces adversity does so as a result of sin, rather the object of this piece is to make us aware of the fact that sometimes certain things happen because God wants to get our attention, especially when we are clearly walking in the path of disobedience.

Rather than question Him and wonder why He has allowed certain things to happen to us in spite of His promises, we need to pay attention to what He is telling us. One thing is sure however, God loves us too much to give us free reign to wander into what would clearly destroy us.

Let us keep in mind that God loves us with tough love. When we walk in obedience and keep His word, we enjoy the benefits of His love but when we walk at variance with His will, He loves us still but we will definitely not enjoy the consequences of our disobedience.

© Biblepraise Fellowship Online,
November, 2010.

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He currently resides in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church as well as in the music ministry. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org