A Question of Boundaries

3/30/2026

1 John 1:8 "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and truth is not in us."

I am currently teaching about setting healthy boundaries in my woman's Sunday school class. Usually (and this has been true of my class so far as well), the lessons talk about setting boundaries when it comes to others. These are the people who may be leading us down a dangerous path, hurting us emotionally or physically, or even trying to confuse Biblical truth. It is often difficult, especially for believers, to put up healthy boundaries because it feels as if it requires us to cut people out of our lives, or at the very least, greatly limiting our interactions with them. How can we do that when we are called to love our enemies? Lines can certainly get blurred, and we may willingly stay on the "crazy cycle" for a long time. 

This evening, the thought about boundaries kind of flipped for me. What if some of our emotional boundary settings were placed around ourselves? What would that look like? Would inward boundary setting have a reciprocal effect with outward boundary setting? If I have a certain personal conduct that is nonnegotiable, like many of us do, and I unabashedly and without reservation put those things forward in my relationships, would it change an unhealthy imbalance? If I truly put others before myself, but within the context of a Biblical love instead of what the worlds demands of me, how would my relationships look? After all, love does require boundaries, even when it is unconditional. I know that seems paradoxical, but true love protects and instructs, doesn't it? 

When He walked the earth, Jesus interacted with and loved the people considered to be unclean or sinful, but He did so in truth. He charged those people to "sin no more". (John 8:11) It was a strict and clear boundary, and it changed them. The religious leaders of His day were horrified at this behavior, but that did not matter to Jesus. He loved everyone, even those that society deemed unworthy, and He held that personal boundary unto death. Even the act of His ultimate sacrifice was not to place a boundary around those who betrayed Him, but to save them; to save us. That is love in its purest form. 

So, I think I am going to have to ponder this notion further and pray about it too. Are external and internal boundaries symbiotic? 

To be continued...