Discipline

Title: Discipline
Text: Galatians 6:1

Introduction After Paul discussed everything about the fruits of the sinful nature and the fruits of the Spirit, he continues instructing Galatians about discipline. And starting here we can learn several things

The Discipline
1. We have to correct the sin (v. 1)
Here we can see that it is very important for us to correct the sin we see the sin. Meaning, we have to stand for truth and righteousness. If we see a brother who is sinning, we are bound to correct him and to warn him about the sin. It is our responsibility to do it, and in fact disciplining is a command from the Lord even the time of Moses.
2. Disciplining should be done by those who are spiritual (v.1)
Now take note here that disciplining is not done by just anyone. Those who were spiritual should do disciplining. There is a little issue here that has we have to be enlightened. Sometimes, there were people who do not want to be corrected by anyone in the church and especially if he here’s knows this point. These people will be raising question about the credibility and spiritual maturity of the one correcting and we all know that this situation can create conflicts.
We have to remember that there is no specific gauge for spiritual maturity. Thus, this issue can easily be raised. However, our Lord Jesus Christ anointed the church in Matthew 18:18 “18I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”, to set some rules concerning discipline.
As a church we have standards of Christian living that was set and through our church covenant, which we also quoted such standards from the Bible. Any obvious deviance and violation to such standards is bound to be disciplined. And such agreement as this were anointed by God.
3. We have to discipline gently (v.1)
If we will be disciplining someone, we have to do it gently (as NIV translates it) or with love. When we discipline, we don’t do it for the sake of correcting, we do it for restoring someone from sin. To let this man recognize his sin, repent, and come back to the Lord. We do not discipline someone to shame him but to show our love and concern to him.
4. We have to watch ourselves (v.1)
The passage is very clear that we have to watch ourselves or we will also be tempted. This is one of the reasons why disciplining should be done by those who are spiritual because sinning is like a virus that can spread immediately. It can contaminate a another person easily. If his resistance is too low, the disciplining Christian will also be tempted and sin against the Lord.
Another disadvantage of disciplining someone when we are not spiritual is our tendency to give a wrong advice.