Does God Punish us For Our Actions?
Have you ever wondered if God punished His children for their actions? Let’s consider the difference between Godly discipline vs punishment.
If we have declared Jesus Christ as Lord and King of our hearts and lives, then there is no punishment against us. Jesus took our punishment! Colossians 2: 13-15 says that He nailed every sin to the cross, and every requirement that was against us, He wiped out! This is the reality for those who belong to Christ. When God the Father looks down on His children, He sees the blood of Jesus that was shed for us, covering us. Isn’t that amazing!
If a believer sins, he/she has an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One. (1 John 1: 9-10 through 1 John 2: 1-2. (These 4 verses go together, even though the chapter number separates them). True and honest repentance is a turning away from sin.
2 Peter 3:18 tells us that we can grow in Godβs grace. God has such great love and mercy for all who come to Him. He nurtures and counsels us so that we would walk a path of righteousness. God’s grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and allows us to walk pleasing to God. (according to Titus 2: 11-12)
What Happens When God’s Children Choose a Path of Sin?
On the other hand, if a confessing believer willfully and continually walks in sin, the sad truth is that the Holy Spirit of God becomes grieved. And because we DO have free will, God will allow us to continue in our own way. In other words, God will step out of our way and allow us to do our own thing. Even if we don’t realize it at the time, we are directly telling the Holy Spirit that He is not welcome to counsel us or correct us, change us or clean us up.
What Happens when Christians Reject the Holy Spirits Correction?
If we as Believers, choose to reject God’s counsel over a period of time we will eventually stop feeling the Holy Spirits conviction.
1 Timothy 4: 1-2 tells us that actively choosing to live in lies, we run the risk of having our conscience seared, as in with a hot iron. We deceive ourselves, and we give ourselves over for the enemy to have his way with us.
I have lived this life, and I remember closing doors that I knew led to God, (this was indirectly opening doors to the enemy). I look back now and see how scary my decisions were. I was too blind to hear God’s correction. My conscious was seared with my own selfish desires.
Truth is, when we walk away from God’s perfect light and pure love, God is not punishing us, but we are blatantly rejecting His love that brings His light. Therefore, we walk willfully into darkness, there’s will be consequences for our actions.
God is Not Punishing You! God is Disciplining You, Child of God.
God loves us so much!! He is a good and faithful Father! He will DISCIPLINE us if He sees we desire His will, and yet remain stubborn and rebellious. I have been there plenty of times, and looking back my heart is thankful!
If we choose to live a lifestyle where we don’t rely on Jesus to save and redeem us, we should not expect God to save or redeem us when we choose to play with sin. Our sinful behavior will result in consequences that God allows us to learn from. Harsh truth as it may be. But grasp this, and you will find victory in the Christian life!
God is creating beautiful things in us when He gives us opportunities to learn from Him. It’s never about God withholding His love from us.
He is patiently teaching us the way we individually need to be taught in order to learn the lesson. We are His children and He loves us, God will correct His children so that we could turn from our wicked ways! (according to Hebrews 12: 5-11)
Correction can be painful in the moment, -Iβd be sugar coating it to say it wasnβt. But God’s correction is not a punishment, it is His preparation to making you look more like Him. It would be far more painful to live life without the wisdom of God leading us!
God’s conviction is an invitation to walk the path that leads to life.
He is preparing you to stand on the tallest mountain, in the freedom of doing it His way.
God Loves You!
God is faithful, and even when He has to discipline our sinful behavior, He leads us in so much love. But what happens when we are walking on the path of righteousness, but still feel like we are being punished. Read more in the blog post, entitled, “Pruned To Bear More Fruit?”
May God bless you all as He leads you on a journey of growing in His love and growing in His grace! And remember, God is not mad at you! He is preparing you to stand on the tallest mountain with the freedom
I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment down below and join the newsletter and stay connected!
Abiding in the love of Jesus and allowing His light to shine through you!
