The best gift we can give our children is love. But that love can come wrapped in many different packages. Love doesn’t mean we always give them everything they want; they’d be spoiled rotten if we did. We can tell our children that certain behaviors are harmful to themselves and others, but they can do them anyway.Love is giving discipline to correct harmful behavior. We want to protect their well-being. When children defy a rule meant to protect or help them, consequences should occur because love only wants what is best for them. Just as Proverbs 3:12 (NLT) says, “For the Lord corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.”So, why are we surprised when our heavenly Father uses corrective discipline to get us back on track? He gives us rules; we break them and then consequences occur. The Father disciplines us because He loves us, that’s what a good Father does. His love can be wrapped in unusual packages.Rest assured though, His ways of discipline are for our good. A child who has been disciplined properly with corrective, not punitive, action, is a child well-balanced and loved. Our heavenly Father does not use punitive but corrective measures with us as well. His loving ways are perfect.