Receiving and accepting chastisement have never been easy. The scriptures are replete with instances when the Lord's people refused and even struck back in anger when chastised. But one must remember the source of that chastisement.
When Samuel the Lamanite was among the Nephites preaching, he declared: "Yea, wo unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them." (Helaman 15:3.)
In his October 1987 general conference address, Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve explained: "God is not only there in the mildest expressions of His presence, but also in those seemingly harsh expressions. For example, when truth 'cutteth . . . to the very center' (1 Nephi 16:2), this may signal that spiritual surgery is underway, painfully severing pride from the soul.
"God is there also when true but hard words break open the chained door of a mind taken over by a single obsession. Sometimes, brothers and sisters, instead of the mind's wrapping itself around an idea, an idea wraps itself tightly around the mind — another way in which 'pride compasseth . . . about as [with] a chain.' (Psalm 73:6.)
"The Lord is truly there to chastise those whom He loves, including the spiritually pre-eminent. The brother of Jared for too long had failed to pray. (See Ether 2:14.) Even the good can become careless without the Lord's being there to chasten. Later, the chastened brother of Jared saw Christ!" (See Ether 3:13-16.)
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