Text of Meditation: 

Matthew 15: 15-18 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Song of Medtitation: 

The Benediction by Anthony Brown and group therAPy

Many of us live life without having boundaries. I was very guilty of that and at times still struggle with this. Having boundaries is essential to our well being. When you don’t have boundaries, people will be able to do whatever they want to do to you because there is no guideline to follow. It’s kind of like that saying “if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything”. This goes for any type of relationships that we have. Whether it be a romantic relationship, a famlial relationship or platonic friendship. How can someone know what you would and won’t tolerate or accept, if you’ve never told them? While doing some research on this topic I came across an article and the author said “Personal boundaries are what define your identity. They’re like the property lines around a home. This is my property and that is not my property. This is me — what I value, am good at, believe, need, or feel — and that is not me”. Setting boundaries is how we take care of ourselves and show others how we should be and want to be taken care of.

Another issue we face once we set the boundaries is enforcing them. A lot of us myself included are often worried about how the other person is going to feel if we tell them when they are stepping too close or over our boundary lines. Especially in relationships where we do not want to offend or lose the person, we tend to let things slide. This never makes the situation better. In fact, it makes it much worse. We end up resenting the person and being so hurt at times by their behavior that the relationship is usually severed. Throughout the Bible we find instances where Jesus set boundaries whether it was withdrawing from people and taking time for himself or to commune with God, or standing and speaking out when people were doing the wrong things, or even rebuking his own disciples for misconduct. Setting and enforcing boundaries is never selfish. In fact, in order to take care of others, we must first be able to take care of ourselves. This week I want us to focus on that. Removing anything in our lives that will hinder us from seeing God’s face. Our boundaries are directly linked to our moral standing and compass. If something or someone threatens that, then those relationships and situations must be reevaluated. Happy Friday and I hope that you all had a blessed week💋