“Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” So chastening is a mark of God’s love, and also a seal of sonship, for he “scourgeth every son that he receiveth.” No true father permits a child to grow up undisciplined, having its own way all the while, its life running unchecked into waywardness, wilfulness, and self-indulgence. The true father chastens. Mark, it is not punishment that God inflicts, but chastening. It is not anger or hatred that makes him at times severe, denying the child's requests. It is love that leads him to chasten. If we were not his children he would not trouble to chasten us. It is the fruitful branch the husbandman prunes to make it more fruitful; the unfruitful branch he cuts off and burns. It is the Father’s child that he chastens.