Bound by His Love

The Father's love is freeing because we are given boundaries. We are his children, even as adults. The things we do affect others, have consequences. We are precious to him as infants in his arms; we are his beautiful children, yet he sees us for who we are and will guide us from there. He respects our choices, but once we are in his house, we are asked to follow house rules. We don't have to, unless we want to remain there.

How can we see that boundaries are not limitations? Boundaries guide, allow us to grow, cause us to pause, think, and even pray. Limitations block, stifle, and make us feel stuck. Imagine being a child growing up in a house without boundaries. At first, it may seem like a dream. No rules regarding sleep, work, play or how to treat each other. Eventually, though, problems would occur. The results may be a sleep deprived disruptive child who is unlearned, or a child who studied all the time without taking breaks, or was so quiet you hardly knew she existed. Whatever the result,  it wouldn't be appropriate or loving to allow a child to be this way. By not setting boundaries, the child has become limited. The same is true for us.

By allowing us to have boundaries, God our Father is offering us freedom. What kind of freedom? Freedom from attachment to unhealthy habits. Freedom to be able to freely and fully choose what is best for our lives. Freedom from poor decisions. Freedom to be able to love fully. Freedom from stress because of peace during troubled times. The love that our Father offers us is free because we know where we stand and we learn who we are. Sometimes, we might wish that he wasn't so loving because it may seem that life would be more fun...more interesting without boundaries. But the truth is he loves us more than we can imagine and  wants to see us live out our potential. Our Father loves us beyond the limits of status, pleasures, or perfection that we place on ourselves.