Set Healthy Boundaries Like JesusSample

I Can’t Save You

Scripture: Matthew 7:6, Matthew 5:42, Romans 9:14-16

I spent years trying to reach a person with the message of Jesus’ gospel. Year after year, I’d share. And year and after year, I felt my heart getting more and more hurt by them. The person was not receptive to the message. In fact, worse than this, they acted in ways that caused me to act not Christlike. Their issues were forcing me to have issues.

But I had to save them. How would they ever come to know Jesus without me? The idea of giving up on them seemed like a horrible idea—and not even a godly one. Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever felt the over-responsible need to save someone, to rescue them, or to tell them what to do?

In my case, I had to remind myself: I am not God and I am not the Savior. Only Jesus is.

I decided to repent of pride. Now, a wise boundary for me is to remember that only the Savior saves. God has more than one way and one means of saving people. They may meet someone at a supermarket or come to see truth in a quiet time like they never have before.

I can pray for them, rather than talk at them. Surely, I still want them to know Jesus. But who is to say that God can’t get more done from a distance than right up in their face? People with wise boundaries let go of the need to save everyone. They don’t feel obligated to answer people’s demands immediately. They are okay with setting up a healthy distance between them and those they love, so they can actually love those people well. They remember Jesus’ command to not throw pearls to swine. They understand that prayer moves more mountains far more than passive-aggressive behaviors do.

Pure love doesn’t feel resentful or make others feel guilty later.

Are you loving purely? What sort of wise boundaries might you need to think about setting?