Have you ever been called names, labelled something less than who you are, disparaged, dishonored, ridiculed, told what you need to do to be accepted, or advised to do or believe something you know is wrong?  Every time disrespectful and wrong headed ideas are thrown at you you have a choice.  You can let the lies ooze into your own thinking, or you can reject them as the ugly lies they are.  Allowing the lies headspace let’s them wrap themselves around your mental ‘legs’ and trip you up. As you stumble, bitterness spawns anger and you actually move backward instead of forward.  But if you reject the lies, you’ll be able to keep running your own race with your eyes on your Champion who helps you.  This past week we watched second hand as a disturbing drama played out. One spouse was injured due to his own bad choices, but he vented his anger on his wife.  I kept thinking about boundaries.  What would healthy boundaries have looked like?  What is the loving thing to do?  How could both parties’ needs be met?  Does the Bible have anything to say about what we call relationship boundaries?

An analogy that the Bible uses to express boundaries is a runner running a race.  We are responsible to run our own course which is laid out for us personally, we have to keep going toward the finish line no matter what others do, we have to avoid habits and people that trip us up and slow us down, we have to eliminate some things in order to dedicate ourselves to the race, and we have to obey the rules.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”  Hebrews 12:1-2

“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?  That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.   I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.”  Galatians 5:7-8,10

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”  1 Corinthians 9:25

“Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.”   2 Timothy 2:5

“I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me.”  2Timothy 4:7-8

A marathon runner can’t listen to how spectators tell them to run or take a route some bystander tells him to.  A runner must stick to what he knows is the right pace for him and the right course for him.  The same for us.  We can’t let the input of others whether mean or kind deter us from doing what we’re supposed to be doing.

In the Old Testament, a certain man of God was told by God to go to a certain town and give a sobering prophecy.  Afterwards, he was told, he must not linger to even eat or drink, but to return directly home by a different route.  After delivering the prophecy he withstood the temptation to stay even when invited to dinner by the king himself who offered a gift.  But on his route home, another older prophet caught up with him and claimed that God told him through an angel that he was to come back and eat with him.  The older prophet convinced him with this lie and he returned to the place he was forbidden to stay.  Because he defied God’s direction and didn’t obey the command of the Lord, his life was cut short and a lion killed him afterwards when he finally did go on his way home. You can read the complete story in 1 Kings 13.

Whoa, this sounds harsh!  But Scripture is written for us to learn from.  The moral of the story is that we should always do what God tells us to do no matter how much others, even other godly people try to persuade us otherwise.  We must not allow others to influence what we know God wants us to do.  No one has the authority to contradict what God tells us.

Not just in matters of personal actions, but also in matters of faith, no one has the right to contradict what God tells us in the Scriptures.  No amount of ‘re-interpreting’ the Bible will change the clear truth of God’s document.  Sticking with the simple understanding of the Bible will often not be popular.  But people pleasing is an affront to God.  It honors humans more than God.  It’s motivated by fear of rejection.  It prevents us from obeying God above all.

“I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News  but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.  Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.  Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”  Galatians 1:6-10

Here is a simple example of how Husband and I stay in our lane and run our individual course:  We moved across the country to be with our adult children and grandchildren.  That’s our responsibility and purpose in this stage of our lives.  That makes it easy to make decisions about our time.  We set aside specific times for family.  Nothing interferes with those times.  Even outside of those scheduled times, our family has top priority.  This means saying no to some other very good things.  But we have peace making these decisions because we know our job is being parents and grandparents above all else.  What are your God-given jobs right now?  Where are your priorities?

So let’s:
Run our own race no matter what anyone else says or does.
Believe we’re precious to God and run secure in his love
Understand that we’re uniquely hand made by God and given particular gifts which come with particular responsibilities in our unique race
Listen to God’s voice above all the other spectator voices
Practice obedience day in and day out
Know God’s Word so well that we hear alarms when someone promotes wrong thinking about ourselves or our faith
Never compare our running or our course with others
Stay in our lane
Keep our eyes on Jesus