Greetings from MD Anderson! I am at the bedside of David Spencer and am enjoying him look at all of your cards. Be reminded of yesterday’s message on boundaries:
Psalm 16:5-6 “LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” Verse 11: “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
On Sunday I shared that learning to live within well-defined, God-appointed and godly self-appointed boundaries is another key to experiencing abundant life. God’s first words to Adam included the establishing of a boundary and the consequences for crossing it. There are spiritual, physical, and emotional prices we pay when we cross God-established boundaries.
Boundaries help us know and define ourselves. Just as within the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there are boundaries or roles each plays in the Godhead, so too, each one of us has a specific role to play.
Jesus had no limitations because He was yielded to the Father and the power of God flowed through Him because of His total submission to God even while He was fully human. But even though He didn’t have “limitations” He had limits.
Even though people were lined up to be healed in Mark 1:33, after a full day of healing, Jesus chose to move on to another community to resume preaching. Even though Jesus could continue to meet the needs, after praying alone to Father God, He chose not to. It is difficult to say “no” when people are hurting, but Jesus put a boundary in place that led Him to the place where He personally was supposed to be. Being where you are supposed to be is more important than trying to get everyone else where they are supposed to be!
Galatians 6:2-5 can help us a bit. “Carry each other’s burdens, (GREEK WORD MEANS “BOULDERS” TOO MUCH FOR ONE PERSON TO CARRY” and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load (GREEK WORD MEANS “BACKPACK” EVERYONE IS SUPPOSED TO CARRY HIS OWN BACKPACK).”
You will not help someone by taking their backpack and you will only hurt yourself in the process. Loving people doesn’t mean pleasing them all the time. Sometimes it means teaching them to love and respect themselves by reminding them of what their personal responsibility is.
May God help us all respect and defend His boundaries and learn to set healthy boundaries in our personal lives as well!
Pastor Melissa
