What Are Legitimate Boundaries?
Types of Boundaries
- Physical Boundaries - are territorial lines that divide one area from another. (Genesis 2:16–17)
- Moral Boundaries - are ethical lines that divide right from wrong. (Genesis 3:17)
- Personal Boundaries - are lines that separate one person from another. They are the healthy by-product of realizing we are uniquely separate from one another and personally responsible for our own attitudes and actions. (Proverbs 4:23)
- Relational Boundaries - enable you to stand up for yourself and speak your mind appropriately, feel comfortable in giving honest feedback to others, and be firm with others in a loving and gentle way. (Luke 6:31)
- Emotional and Mental Boundaries - according to relationship experts Henry Cloud and John Townsend, equip you to evaluate your emotions in light of God’s Word, guard against letting emotions rule you by focusing your mind on God’s thoughts, and allow you to communicate your thoughts in a Christlike way. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
- Moral and Ethical Boundaries - teach you to know the difference between right and wrong, live a life of moral integrity, discern the true character of a person, and evaluate the right way to think and act toward others. (Genesis 4:7)
- Sexual Boundaries - authorize you to determine whether or not you will allow a person to touch you sexually, determine areas of appropriate sexual expression, determine personal purity that preserves sexual activity for marriage, determine the parameters you will place on your thought life, and determine what you will allow yourself to watch, listen to, and participate in that is of a sexual nature. (1 Thessalonians 4:3–4)