Ouch!
Oh my…at the start of this new year…I heard some hard words from the Lord’s gentle, but firm voice…
“No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening--it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”
Hebrews 12:11
Yes…He was saying some difficult things to me…about me…because He loves me. If you read the context of the passage above, the writer of the Book of Hebrews explains this further…
Still, it was hard to hear at the time…these words from His lips…yet…my joy in Jesus returned like floodgates opening. You know, the kind of happiness not based on sweet circumstances (of which I had been overwhelmed with), but the joy of freedom from some junk that had been starting to take over my life. I’d wondered where my joy in the river of the Holy Spirit had gone for a few days prior. So…
Don’t be afraid to hear and face some stuff…it is the release of self-ishness, self-centeredness, self-will, self-righteousness…all the “self” stuff. At least that is what it was (and is!) for me…but He promises to replace these broken, rebellious parts, with the best “self” of all…Himself