(Part 1)

There's apparently a wrong perspective of this idea that remain with the church on this matter; hence, we feel called upon to consider it in brief papers. Be patient and objective with the reading, we beg. 

Straight away, discipline means taking care of God's house, which He has given to His people. It includes different ways of looking after it, like being helpful and giving advice to each other, correcting mistakes publicly, and sometimes, if needed, asking someone to leave the gathering of believers. The latter and related activities only are what is oftentimes referred to, when the matter is mentioned. No, not so always. In fact, since it is in a shepherd-sheep relationship that we find discipline, feeding and general taking care of the sheep are the front pillars of the  discourse of discipline.

When Jesus took care of a lost sheep, He showed Peter how important it is to take care of others like Jesus takes care of us. Just like the good Samaritan helped the injured man, we should help each other too. When we become part of God's family, we start a journey that involves learning, caring, and correcting each other with the Holy Spirit's help. This is what it means when the Bible talks about "members should care for each other."

And the first way to care, as either a shepherd, a co-believer or a disciplinarian, is by providing good spiritual food, like Jesus said, "Feed My lambs." Then, there's protecting and guiding, like "Shepherd My sheep." And let's not forget, it all starts with feeding, so Jesus also said, "Feed My sheep." So, the main thing is making sure we're learning and growing.

We may say, a shepherd who's not feeding the sheep has lost the right to discipline that sheep. It's a wonderful thing to help others grow in their faith by sharing the truth about Jesus. Everyone can be a part of this, especially those who are good at teaching.

In our gatherings as church, this caring is super important. If we're not learning and growing, it's hard to correct mistakes in a kind way. When we're spiritually strong, we can even help each other like Jesus did by washing feet. So, it's crucial to keep sharing God's Word, so everyone becomes stronger in their faith and knows God better. How does it help?

For instance, new believers face challenges from their own desires, the world around them, and even from the devil. Because we love them, we need to watch over them, like shepherds watch their sheep. This means paying attention to simple things like attending meetings and how people live their lives. But we need to be careful; watching over them doesn't mean being nosy or suspicious. It's not about being overly curious.

Instead, it's about caring. For example, if someone isn't coming to church meetings, we shouldn't jump to the conclusion that they're not interested. Instead, we should show kindness and try to understand what's going on in their lives. Because building trust is better than raising suspicion about a person character by asking a lot of questions. This is the right way to care for each other, without being too pushy or too indifferent.

So, in a nutshell, "discipline" means, or at least  begins with, taking care of God's family by helping each other learn and grow and by watching over each other with love and understanding.

This is just the beginning.