Hebrews 12:5-7 - Endure hardship as discipline

12:5,6

The writer then draws attention to the fact that a good father disciplines his children, and Proverbs 3:11,12 shows that God Himself disciplines us as His children. So how does all this fit into the general  argument of Hebrews? Well, we become aware of our sinfulness. Our reaction can be to think this means we are being rejected by God and we need to do something else in order to gain His approval. The writer is showing that this is definitely not the case. God makes us aware of our sin, but does so not to reject us, but because He loves us. He is disciplining us, and that is part of the process of transforming our lives. So far from being a sign that God does not accept us, our becoming aware of our sin is a sign that He accepts us as sons. 

This is why the author describes these words as a “word of encouragement”, it shows that we are in a relationship with God.

12:7

So, if we are going through a time when we become acutely aware of our own sinfulness we are to endure the hardship as discipline, not see it as a reason to run to something else to try and assuage our guilt. We are not being condemned. Far from it, God is treating us as children. We know that natural fathers discipline their children (or, at least should do so). So we need to be careful not to misinterpret what is happening. We are not being condemned, we are being disciplined.