God sets boundaries for our protection. In fact, the ten commandments are ten edicts of protection for our benefit. God’s boundaries encompass the spheres of morality, marriage, property, government, and nation states. Our God sanctions and upholds the boundaries which are clearly outlined in His word (Deut 32:8). On a practical note, by defining clear boundaries in our home and workplace, we may avoid confusion as each person is cognizant of their roles and responsibilities. Believe it or not, the word, ‘no’ is a boundary which is often tested on a daily basis. Join Carl now for this unique and practical teaching…
Here is a complete transcript of the podcast…(below)
Friend, the title of my message today might seem strange at first but I’ve thought at length recently about the importance of both establishing and enforcing boundaries in our lives. Now in order to be successful according to God’s definition as the book of Proverbs attests especially, then we need to be practitioners of both discipline and diligence. Diligent to oversee and manage the various possessions we might own and the requisite maintenance for each vehicle we drive, for example. And diligent to watch over our families and perhaps the internet usage of our teenagers…need I say more. Diligent to do our part in the workplace, not cutting corners but going the extra mile when and where an opportunity arises. We also need to be disciplined in the areas of health, physical exercise, moral restraint, financial affairs, and the various other components that go to make up the fabric of our everyday life. Yet I consider setting important boundaries in life a key marker of success especially in relationships and is an essential aspect of discipline that often gets overlooked. In fact, these boundaries are mentioned in the Bible. In Romans 12:1, the Apostle Paul tells us to set boundaries in both our minds and spirits. He later discusses keeping his body under, another example of a boundary. Paul later talks of setting up boundaries in our worship, sexuality, and marriage. The thing is when we over step these godly boundaries there are consequences and we must be aware of them.
Now, a boundary is a dividing line and in geography of course a boundary marks the end of one property and the beginning of the next. Yet industry sets boundaries in economics, Engineering, and medicine etc. and every sphere of life, so that each of us, have clear responsibilities and privileges within those industries. But what does setting these boundaries actually accomplish? Well, they define expectations for each of us and the respect we need to show to others. In truth a boundary in God’s Word is really for self control and Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, so it’s not something unbelievers can really achieve. But to be honest, the ‘old timey’ believers would say self control is simply keeping the flesh under or crucifying our flesh daily and I agree with them. A true believer will see his need for self-control so he can take responsibility for his own actions and not encroach upon others because a man without restraint, can become a moral and social wrecking ball, inflicting harm on others wherever he treads.
Now as I said, regarding property, the mutual agreement between two homeowners is to not transgress boundaries and to respect the other person’s property. In our own lives however and particularly as a minister, I set moral boundaries for my own protection, especially in public because the Bible says we are not to give even the appearance of evil because as teachers of God’s word, we are called to a higher standard. If we’re not careful, we can even cause other people to stumble in their spiritual walk with the Lord and we don’t want to do that. Now, let’s look at what the word of God has to say about boundaries shall we? Let’s read Titus 2:12, ”Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Now the Amplified version: “It (grace of God) has trained us to reject and renounce all ungodliness and worldly (passionate) desires, to live discreet (temperate, self-controlled), upright, (spiritually whole) lives in this present world.”
Friend the truth is that humanity struggles to control itself but gravitates toward the control of others. Like Johnny Cash once wrote, we should be cautious when ‘the man’ comes to town because ‘the man’ has a self inclination to potentially manipulate others if unchecked. And that goes for nations as well. Of course, these national boundaries are drawn to prevent other nations from overstepping their boundaries. In Genesis 11, when Nimrod tried to establish the first New World Order by attempting to unify man under one government and language, we found out that our God is a God of national and geographical boundaries. He opposed this mandate and He still opposes it today. There is an interesting verse in Deuteronomy that describes this tower of Babel in Deuteronomy 32:8 and it reads this way, “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people, According to the number of the children of Israel.”
Friend, it was God who set boundaries in the land for his people and later on when Israel ventured into the Promised Land, stretching all the way from the River Nile to the Turkish border. In scripture when boundaries fall and nations collapse, this can be an indication of God’s judgment upon a nation. But here’s the kicker, whenever Israel chose to infringe its spiritual borders, the Lord would then consequently reduce their geographical borders in tandem. And I believe this premise is important in our everyday lives as well. As we transgress God’s spiritual boundaries in His word, our ability to physically impact others will diminish because we lose our witness.
Friend, proper boundaries are what we the children of light, are going to lay down in order to ‘do’ the sayings of Jesus and live a godly life. We are not to fellowship with darkness and our calling is a separation from this world according to 2nd Corinthians 6:14. Yes, we should be friendly and have a gentle disposition towards people certainly, but we are never to be coerced by peer pressure into doing things that the Lord would disapprove of and end up being lovers of this world. And there’s a balance needed here friend; I’m not saying it’s easy. But I believe I’m speaking to someone out there right now who is caving in to this peer pressure and you need to take a stand for Jesus amen. So, let’s look at another boundary in scripture, and that is marital boundaries. Let me read, Genesis 2:23-24, “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
Let’s stop right there. If you are a married couple living with your mother in law, uh oh, watch out for strife. If you are a married couple living with another married couple, get ready for some strife because friend, you’re dishonoring God’s boundaries when you agree to these living arrangements. Now I understand it’s an act of love to invite an aged family member into the home instead of living in a hospice and that is a personal decision for each of us to make. I realize sacrifices need to be made on a family’s part certainly in those instances, yet I’m talking about setting up residence with other families which quite frankly is going to cause problems down the road and God’s word backs me up on this. And whilst we’re on the topic God has never and will never sanction homosexual marriage. Marriage is God’s institution to begin with, he started it and the government may sanction something but that doesn’t mean God approves of it because marriage is Gods invention not the governments. It’s wrong to pervert the sanctity of marriage with ungodly same sex unions, but I digress.
Let me ask you another question…do you set moral boundaries in your home friend? Kids of a certain age should not be watching some late-night TV shows and or movies for that matter and there are some TV channels that should not be accessible to children at any time and it’s the parent’s responsibility to establish these boundaries, clearly communicate and enforce them. Setting family boundaries are crucial, I believe to successful parenting and relationships as children get older. Friend, these boundaries are guidelines between people living in harmony outlining suitable behavior and responsibilities for each family member. If you have an employer for example, they are going to have an employee’s guidelines or boundaries in which acceptable behavior is defined, yet a family should have its own guidelines as well. And you’ve guessed it, we should let the word of God be our guideline for successful living.
I’m not saying that setting these boundaries and enforcing them is easy either, it can be a challenge for sure friend, albeit these boundaries should be clear, reasonable and consistent. But here’s the kicker, there should be consequences for not respecting them. So here are some boundaries I could think of in the home for example.
- How do we feel about guests in our home? Do children need to forewarn their parents of who is coming over and for how long?
- Between the husband and wife, who is responsible for paying which bills?
- When it comes to housework? Who does the dishes and who takes the trash out? By designating roles it can de-stress because each person knows what he or she is doing.
- Going out? (teenagers) – Teenagers need to share where they are going, for how long and whom they are with? Right? They haven’t quite left the home yet and are still subject to the rules of the house they live in.
Here’s another boundary? A little word called, “no.” The word “no” is a cuss word to some people, they don’t think it’s nice to say no to people, but in saying yes to everyone and everything they run themselves ragged and they and their family pays a heavy price for it. I’ll tell you right now, people in ministry are often the ones who haven’t learned to say no when they should have. Friend, if that’s you; then you need to value yourself more than you currently do. Jesus was by far the best example to us of managing His time efficiently and serving people, whilst retaining His peace. And frankly there’s nothing worse than a crabby or grumpy minister whose attitude is so off you know deep down they’d rather be somewhere else right now than helping you out. My point is Jesus valued His quiet time; it’s spoken of in scripture where he would go off by himself to pray to His father, probably to de-stress from the demands of the people and to prepare for His forthcoming miraculous encounters. Do you have a place of solitude friend, just like Jesus; do you have a place where you can go and spend time with the Lord far from the distractions of the day?
Many people fail to realize that Jesus established several clear boundaries whilst He existed on this earth. The bible says he ate food, went to sleep when he was tired, took naps, walked a lot, he sought the company of friends when it was needed, He knew when to withdraw from crowds and when it was time to move on to the next city. Jesus led a disciplined and diligent lifestyle and is a prime example of someone who knew his physical limitations and when it was time to chill out. Jesus also taught us to have boundaries in our conversation, to let our yes be yes and no be no, to set aside daily private devotional time with the father, to be a God pleaser, not a man pleaser, and to set our hearts in a life of service, not self worship.
And Boundaries in friendship are important, saying no to a friend or pointing out those who are hurting themselves, this is what a true friend does. Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” and real friends are going to tell friends the truth. Are you one of those people friend? Are you going to lovingly confront a friend who needs to hear a truth that may offend them? I know this is tough to do but if you really care about them, I know you will. Let me wrap up with this session and I touched upon this earlier but friend, we are going to have to give an account to the Lord for our thought life and to be honest this is a bit scary but it’s true. Let me read this passage to you now, 2 Corinthians 10:3–6 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
Friend in the unseen realm I believe our thoughts are connected to the spirit realm. A fiery dart of discouragement needs to be opposed, cast down and taken captive. If we don’t set positive boundaries within our thought life then we will be vulnerable in this life and struggle to be victorious in our Christian Walk. If a thought flashes across your mind that is ungodly, you need to take authority over it and deal with it light of scripture then and there, don’t wait. Friend, the clock on the wall has set a boundary for me that our time is over for today. Until tomorrow Good night, God Bless and remember to spread the good news.
https://carljosephministries.com/podcast/rightly-dividing-the-word-of-truth/
https://www.christianwebsite.com/what-does-the-bible-say-about-boundaries/
Title: God’s Boundaries
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