Now no chastening (discipline) seems to be joyful for the present but painful nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

 In 1947, newspaperman James Comstock founded the “University of Hard Knocks” an honorary society that recognize people who have achieved success without earning a degree in higher education. If you look at people’s Facebook pages, you’ll probably find some say they graduated from the school of hard knocks. Most dictionaries define it as the inadvertent education one receives from negative experiences in life.

 If truth be told, most of us have some degree from the school of hard knocks. We’ve made mistakes in life, suffered the consequences of poor decisions, and learned a few things that has kept us moving through life. Maybe you have a doctorate in hard knocks.

 Today’s verse aligns with the theme of today’s blog. As a child of God, you should welcome God’s chastisement or discipline, for it provides a better understanding of how God looks at you and how He expects you to live. So often we get ourselves involved in bad financial dealings, unhealthy relationships, even breaking the law (speeding, shoplifting, and so forth) and we suffer for those poor choices. That period of suffering is God’s chastisement and you should use that time to repent and ask God’s forgiveness, and even forgiveness of those you offended by your wrong actions.

 The end game of your discipline period is a better you, hopefully more aligned with God’s way of thinking, and a closeness to Him that otherwise wouldn’t have happen without you messing up. If you are breathing air, you are still in the school of hard knocks and it won’t end until you pass on the other side of this life. Make each moment count, even when you mess up, God has a lesson to teach you through His loving discipline! God bless!