“Just as our yard has physical boundaries, so our lives—emotional, psychological, and spiritual—have limits also.”

A thought by Henry Cloud, from his book, Changes That Heal (p. 131). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

I’m sure we understand our limits in some areas but maybe not all of them.”

Henry says, “God has designed us in his image with one exception: he is infinite, and we are finite. This truth has serious implications for our idea of boundaries.

“We all possess a finite amount of ability, time, money, energy, and so on. The amounts are not static, however. We may get more or less as time goes on, but it is still true that, at any given moment, we have fixed amounts. Our salary limits what we can spend. Our energy level limits how many projects we can take on.”

He goes on, “Many people don’t take responsibility for their limits and overextend themselves. It takes time to learn our limits in the various areas of life, but they can be learned if we are aware of our feelings, attitudes, and behaviors. If we are feeling overburdened, we must realize where we have overextended our limits and say no. Sometimes, we don’t know the limits of our love, and we love past where we should.

“Many people don’t take responsibility for their limits and overextend themselves. It takes time to learn our limits in the various areas of life, but they can be learned if we are aware of our feelings, attitudes, and behaviors. If we are feeling overburdened, we must realize where we have overextended our limits and say no.”

He then says, “Many Christians do not take advantage of the amount of room God has given them to experience all that is within them.”

Also, he says, “If someone is asking too much of us, we draw the line as to what we will give and what we will not.  If someone is abusive to us, we must set a limit.  Family expert, Dr. James Dobson in his book, Love Must Be Tough calls this ‘a line of respect’.  It means basically, ‘I will not allow myself to be treated this way.’”

We need to know our limits and the limits of others and not allow them or us to cross our limits of time and energy.  But we also need to spend time with God. There may be areas when He wants us to stretch but also areas when He wants us to limit ourselves and with others.  So, will you strive to ask Him for wisdom and direction in this area? 

Yes, yes!