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The Importance of Convictions and Boundaries

Our world seems to encourage the abandonment of moral boundaries and convictions. And this lack of convictions and personal boundaries within people often leads to violations of the conscience or issues with mental health. That is why in this post, my goal is to teach you the importance of convictions and boundaries within one’s life if one wants to live in the best way possible.

Where’s Our Convictions and Boundaries?

Let’s face it. Our world’s losing its grip on absolutes. We like to muddle our picture of morality and expand upon the boundaries of what’s right and wrong.

For example, according to the Star, gun violence in Toronto, Canada has increased 13% since last year as of May 12, 2020. I can only see this fact as an apparent reminder that our society is forgetting what it means to hold moral convictions.

And if we don’t hold moral convictions, how can we hold spiritual convictions?

John 3:12 World English Bible (WEB)
12 If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

I find it heartbreaking to witness a person find themselves in hell on Earth after violating all of our God-given boundaries. God gave us guidelines to protect us from the evils of our own self-destructive natures.

Jeremiah 17:9 King James Version (KJV)
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

But, many people drive themselves into all sorts of addiction and sin. This ultimately leads to issues like depression, trauma, and more. There are all sorts of evils which a person can do, I don’t need to name them all.

Ezekiel 33:11 King James Version (KJV)
11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Therefore, take a deep look at where you’re at, in your personal life. And if you realize that you’ve lived without convictions or moral boundaries, now is the time to realize the importance of moral convictions.

The Importance of Convictions and Boundaries

Now, the point of moral convictions is to remind one’s soul if you or someone else is violating a moral law. Furthermore, stealing is a violation of morality and you should have the convictions to tell you that.

Ephesians 4:28 World English Bible (WEB)
28 Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, producing with his hands something that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.

Even more, moral and spiritual boundaries tells us what lines to not cross. We should know our boundaries and not demean our worth to God by forgetting our personal boundaries.

For example, sexual immorality often occurs because people do not know the boundaries of marriage, and this leads many lives to devastation.

1 Corinthians 6:18 World English Bible (WEB)
18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

Know your boundaries. If you don’t know your own boundaries, you forget that there’s something to protect within you. And if you don’t understand your own worth, then read this post.

So, again, realize the importance of boundaries and convictions. Go down the straight yet narrow path, and ask God for the grace to lead you down that ever-so good path.

Matthew 7:13-14 World English Bible (WEB)
13 “Enter in by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter in by it. 14 How[a] the gate is narrow and the way is restricted that leads to life! There are who find it.

Where Do I Find My Convictions?

2 Timothy 3:16-17 World English Bible (WEB)
16 Every Scripture is God-breathed and[a] profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, 17 that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

If there’s anywhere I’d find convictions and moral boundaries guiding me as to what’s right or not, I’d find it in the Bible.

Psalm 119:105 King James Version (KJV)
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

And do you know why? It’s because, without God, there are no boundaries. There are only boundaries if there’s something worth protecting and without God, where’s the worth in you?

The God of the Bible is the only one to declare that you have value because you were created in His image. And I will stick to that justification of intrinsic human worth because it’s the only one I’ve got.

Genesis 1:27 World English Bible (WEB)
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

Reach out to the God who created you in His image, and let Him begin a new work in you. Whether you’re in the gutters of damnation or a pristine neighbourhood, God wants you to accept His saving help.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 World English Bible (WEB)
26 I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them.

That’s why He came to Earth as Lord Jesus Christ and died on the cross to suffer the penalty for your sins. After 3 days, He rose again, victorious over death. So, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, He will not disappoint.

By Andre Wijesekera

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Acceptance and Tolerance of That Which Is Sacred

Give it to God!

Sacredness and humanity is something that goes hand in hand. But, how do you view yourself? We often talk about issues dealing with how people view others. Yet, we mustn’t forget that to enjoy a good life, you must first deal with how you view yourself and inner-acceptance. Food-eating disorders, low self-esteem, and many mental health issues which our society faces, relate to how a person views himself or herself. So, to find out what’s the right way to deal with the matter, continue reading.

What is Sacred?

The acceptance of that which is sacred first starts with what you define as sacred. To be sacred means to hold a divine purpose. And so, do you hold a divine purpose? Has God willed your life into being?

These are all valid, thought-provoking questions which one must answer in order to live a life worthwhile. I believe God assigns everyone a divine purpose. And God created you with the intent of you bearing His image, to represent Him.

Genesis 1:27 World English Bible (WEB)
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

You are sacred. I placed a period directly after the previous sentence because it is a fact and there’s no way to argue the contrary. God intends for you to be in His image because you are a sacred individual.

Now, just because you hold divine purpose, doesn’t mean that whatever you do is divine. In fact, your lifestyle might be as far apart from divine purpose as the East is from the West. But, there is a way to come back to your divine purpose.

When mankind rejected God, the devil found a way to ruin mankind’s perception of its own sacredness. You could read more about that in Genesis 3 of the Bible or in this post.

Thank God, He (God) came in the flesh 2000 years ago as Jesus Christ and died on the cross to take your sins and my sins upon Himself so that He may restore us to our divine purpose and in His image; after 3 days, He rose again to fully justify your salvation.

So, if you haven’t already, please acknowledge with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Saviour.

The Hideous Made Beautiful

Furthermore, there are those of you who hate your physical appearance or hold what many people and psychologists call a “low self-esteem.” This is why many people, especially women, seem to hold eating-disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.

Anorexia is when one has a severe fear of gaining weight even when unhealthily skinny. And bulimia is when someone binge eats unhealthily but then tries to purge what they ate, or fasts for a while through unhealthy means.

Now, scientists and doctors relate the causes of such eating-disorders to a combination of biochemistry and environmental factors. Whatever the cause is, I know this is a fallen world where things don’t function the way God intended them to. And what I need… is a solution.

I believe that solution is, in the case of people with eating disorders, in taking your eyes off magazines along with media that limit a person’s worth to their physical ideal, and to realize that God loves you just as you are, physically. And to really drill the right idea into your head, read the Bible (start with the New Testament) and commune with Him.

If you want to be physically healthy and fit, then follow a proper, healthy, nutritionally-sufficient diet and exercise at a moderate level. Just don’t forget that God loves everyone, fat or skinny, poor or rich, black or white, and He will always considers you as sacred.

Colossians 3:9-11 World English Bible (WEB)
9 Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, 10 and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, 11 where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.

Jesus is the key to a healthy lifestyle!

When in Christ, there is no factor by which one is worth less than another. You are all created for God’s glory in the way God calls you to be. So, read the Bible, pray, and worship Him. When you do that, you will automatically renew what you know of His image so that your life will closely resemble His perfection. There’s power in acceptance of who you are in Christ Jesus.

Acceptance of the Temple of God

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 World English Bible (WEB)
19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

There’s a stark reminder in the Word of God that you do not belong to yourself. When you make a paper airplane, does that paper airplane belong to itself or to you? It belongs to you, and in the same way, God made you and He owns you. You were never supposed to belong to yourself. It’s just not possible to live a life of purpose in a life not surrendered!

Your body is sacred and holy to God. It’s a living temple which His Holy Spirit inhabits. Moreover, I can argue that not only are you sacred but that you are sacred on top of sacred. You are the pinnacle of sacredness of all creation to God.

And that’s because God made the animals and all nature, for your existence, which He subjects to you. So, those things are sacred, but they are sacred because they were made for you! Thus, making you a divine purpose of purposes.

Genesis 1:28 World English Bible (WEB)
28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Surrender your everything to God before it’s too late!

Even more, whether you look good on the outside or not to yourself, God is pleased with you when you surrender your physical being (alongside your entire self) to Him. If you want to be healthier, you can workout and eat healthily, but, do it for the glory of God, not out of fear or unhealthily obsessive conditions.

1 Samuel 16:7 King James Version (KJV)
7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.