The result of discipline is growth

Learning to ride a bike is a rite of passage for every kid. After not learning to ride and walking my bike for weeks around my neighborhood, my dad had the brilliant idea to put me on the bike atop the highest hill that surrounded our apartment complex -- remember these were the days when wearing a helmet when you rode a bike was considered weird -- and told me to hang on, and pushed.

I went flying down the hill, pedals whirring and wheels going so fast that they were one step away from flying off. Death was certain. If not for me, for him when momma heard what happened.

That terror-filled push though was what I needed to know that I could ride. Without it I would still have been walking the bike. Without it I was missing the purpose and freedom of riding.

God will push us -- or another way to say it is that God will discipline the ones he loves for their own good (Hebrews 12:6).

Discipline is an external action that is imposed by self or someone else to bring about desired results. Tom Landry has the best definition of discipline: "The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don't want to, in order to achieve what they've always wanted to be."

God's purpose in bringing discipline in your life is for growth. To create within you what you've always wanted but without His discipline will never have. God will allow and bring things into your life for your growth -- or you to become who He has created you to be.

Discipline is often a conflict between what is and what should be. God may be allowing, not initiating but allowing, a conflict in your life to push you to whom He has created you to be. Discipline for health, finance and spiritual growth is never pleasant but brings about the results that have always been wanted.

Today one of my most favorite past-times is to take a bike ride. My dad and I have talked in depth about a cross-state bike trip. I have no doubt that without the push I would have learned to ride but it would have taken much longer and been more painful.

Sometimes we need a divine push in the right direction especially when we don't want it.

Robert Hurtgen is a husband, father, minister and writer. Read more of him at robhurtgen.com.