YOU BEST SET SOME BOUNDARIES

As a young parent, we are advised even before the first child is born, “You best set some boundaries” for your children. But in doing so, we forget that we as parents, we need boundaries in our own life as much as our children do. Proverbs 8:29 tells us that God set boundaries and even the oceans and the seas dared not overstep them….and that He marked out the foundations of the earth. Again Job 38 reminds us, that God marked off the dimensions and placed boundaries when He created the earth and set bolts and doors and told the waves where they had to stop and that they were not allowed to go any further. As a matter of fact, the scriptures are full of examples of setting boundaries and the benefits of doing so.

 

Setting boundaries can be very excruciating for the most part, so until the need arises that pushes us to the edge of our tolerance and we find that we have reached our limit, we more than likely will not make the effort to set them. Limits however, are like barbed wire in our lives and boundaries are the split rail fences that will confront us to remind us that we have gone as far as we can, and we can go no further.

 

Life itself offers many pricks from the barbed wire of reaching our limits in a matter as we struggle in trying to get through them often times the wrong way. But setting boundaries for ourselves, allow us the room we need to maneuver through them as we are willing to learn the great lesson of bending between the rails on the fence that we have set for ourselves. At some point we all need to draw a line in the sand, to remind us that we are not allowed to go any further, whether it be in our wants, our anger, our conversations, our unwillingness to compromise with another and cross the line we have set for ourselves. We only render ourselves  powerless in our situations, when we choose not to set boundaries in our lives, by simply saying “no” to those old habits by the words we say and the actions that we take. By not doing so, we rob ourselves of our inner peace and those pricks from the barbed wire cause us to bleed out emotional baggage that dishonor God and causes the light in us to be hid under bushels of bad habits. Bad Habits that could be overcome if we would simply set boundaries for ourselves.

 

Never let others expectations be the plumb line for setting your personal or spiritual boundaries. Unless those expectations are what are required of you from scripture. God’s Word should always be your light in the darkness that you will be required to walk in at times. However, it is possible to walk in the dark; if you have the right light to help you according to John 3:19-21. Any light will allow you to see in the darkness. But only God’s light will lead you through the darkness to get you to the place you need to go. Using God’s measurements will help you to set the boundaries that fit your life and your walk in Christ. Those measurements are found throughout His word. They are found in the form of laws, commands and instructions.  They were never given to us to inhibit us, but rather to define the life for which we were created in His image. They define both, “what is good for us” and how we will benefit from them if we make the effort to live by them; and “what is bad for us”. They serve as warnings to help us see how easy it is to be corrupted by our wrong choices and those things that serve to prevent us from ever being what God created us to be.

 

The God who made us knows best how we can achieve our greatest potential as human beings. He who made us knows exactly what is best for us. According to I John 5:3,  those who love Him, His commands are neither a burden nor a frustration. They becomes a gracious gift from His hand by which He uses to guide us into all truth and real happiness. His will and purpose are for our good!  The boundaries He sets will give us clarity of direction and a sure purpose  according to Psalm 119. It is only when we are not living within the boundaries that we have set for ourselves as God’s plumb line and we disobey, that we are plunged into the mess that is possible for us to be in. Is there any remedy for that, you might say? Can the damage that we incur by stepping beyond God's boundaries be reversed or repaired? You better bet it can sweet friend! God is the Maser at repairing the damage we cause in our own lives. His repair kit involves two things; repentance and regeneration  according to Acts 3:19; John 3:1-7. So today friend, if you have not set boundaries in your life that protect and guide you into knowing God better, then you might want to make that a real topic of prayer and determination for yourself. The sooner we build that fence he quicker we are protected by a heavenly shield!

 

Loving on you today,

Bren