Love Discipline And Do Not Hate Correction

For Christmas, I bought my cats their very first bag of Friskies Party Mix. It is a 60g bag of special treats for cats. On Christmas day, I divided about half of the bag between the two of them. They gobbled the treats up almost instantly!

I thought I would save the other half of the bag for New Years Day. However, several hours later, I realized my cats had different plans. They both looked at their regular cat food, looked at me, meowed, and licked their lips. I couldn't believe my eyes.

I, of course, said, "No! Eat your regular food." They weren't too pleased with me and indignantly walked away from their dish. They didn't touch their cat food until the next day when they were too hungry to be finicky. I thought, "If they think I am going to buy them cat treats for the rest of their lives, they're crazy!" Either that or I was crazy for buying them treats in the first place.

The Bible says that to learn, we must love discipline, but we are fools if we hate correction.

"To learn, you must love discipline;

 it is stupid to hate correction."

Proverbs 12:1

My cats need to learn that I know what is best for them. Eating cat treats every day will cause them to become obese and unhealthy. Cat treats are only for special occasions. And when I say, "No," they need to accept my discipline without being disgruntled.

Sometimes, we as Christians get angry or upset when we too are corrected by others. However, correction is good for us, if it is given in love. I would much rather have people care enough to be honest and correct me when I am wrong, than for them to talk negatively about me behind my back. To hate correction is foolish. We need each other's correction if we are going to grow in God, and become like Him.

The most transforming times in my life were when my friends gave me correction and I listened.

When I was in Bible College, one of my best friends said to me, and another agreed, "You have way too much of an analytical mind. It drives us crazy!" (That's what happens when a mathematician studies at Bible college.)

I learned from that point on to keep my mouth shut and express my thoughts at only appropriate times or through special means, like writing blogs. Today, I am sure that most of my friends and Church co-workers would describe me as quiet and introverted. Little do they know what is going on inside my head.