Hebrews 12:9-11
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

This chastening may not feel good, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not good.  It doesn’t feel good to be corrected.  It doesn’t feel good when God digs into those things in our lives in order to pull out what doesn’t belong in us and reshape the clay pot.  But after enduring that, there is a beautiful result.  That pain produces something good.  God is working to make us righteous, to make us like Him, using whatever means are necessary to get us to that state.

Why do parents correct and discipline their children?  To get them to behave a certain way, to teach them lessons about what is acceptable and unacceptable so they someday grow up able to make those right choices for themselves.  It is a training, shaping, and molding process.  And God does the same with His children.  He wants us to be holy as He is holy, and so our loving Father corrects and teaches us.  He tries to discourage those wrong things and encourage those right things so we become children who please Him and honor Him with godly lives.

God wants us to be holy, so why are we so often willing to settle for less than that?  Why are we so resistant to His Word and His teaching and the processes He uses to get us to grow and change and be transformed to be more and more like Jesus?  Why are we so stubborn when He’s trying to teach us a lesson?  Why do we cling so much to our fleshly, sinful ways even when we know it’s not good for us?  May we seek instead to be responsive to the working of God in our lives, the still small whisper of His Spirit guiding us along the right path and the guidelines set forth in His Word for our benefit.

We don’t like to be scolded or corrected.  That’s really a pride thing.  But when we’re willing to humble ourselves and open our hearts to God, we can grow in significant ways for our own benefit and in our relationship with Him.  Then we become more useful to Him in serving Him and honoring Him and being witnesses for Him.  So let’s appreciate the value that comes from this process.  Let’s be malleable in God’s hands.  Let’s allow Him to work in us so we can be righteous servants who glorify Him with our whole lives.