Boundaries In A Time Of Ghosting

I was thinking this morning about having healthy boundaries in relationships and this passage came to mind...

John 2:23-25 ESV - "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man."

There are always going to be people who push in too far. Social media allows for 'ghosting'. If someone crosses a line we don't like we can unfollow, block or just mute them but personal relationships aren't always that easy and frankly speaking I don't think that is a healthy way to live.

Jesus did everything perfectly. He knew when to speak and be quiet. He entered and exited at just the right moments. He loved so much that miracles happened just from touching Him but there were places no one touched in His life because He never exposed those areas to the grubby hands of fallen men and women.

Boundaries are sometimes complex but at other times it us as simple as saying 'no' even though that 'no' will cause upheaval.

I love this next passages where Jesus deals with his family...

John 7:3-8 ESV - "So his brothers said to him, 'Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.' For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, 'My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.' "

Then Jesus went anyway but He did it in secret and said this just a few hours later...

John 7:14-18 ESV - "About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.' "

This is dealing with Jesus' messiahship but I think it also speaks of the person functioning in true liberty. A person's freedom to function reveals something about their source of power. Liberty isn't license. The alpha male rolls over people or tries to exercise dominance as a show of power which us a crude way to set boundaries.

As I have gotten older I really enjoy just letting people be who they are with a few 'no's thrown in if absolutely necessary

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