Every successful man/woman, brand, or enterprise has set standards and boundaries they adhere to, which is necessary to maintain order and achieve expectations and purpose. As events evolve, the set standards and boundaries are reviewed.
What does it mean to set standards and boundaries as a Christian?
Standards and boundaries are guides established by authority for measurement. As a child of God, the word of God is the guide or standard that determines your boundaries, standard, and boundaries are meant for precision, position, safety, and progress.
God’s authority establishes God’s word; His word never lies or fails; it is forever alive; if you want to know the concept of a being, thing, or event, only the thoughts of God will give you the true definition hence His word will guide you in truth, the path of righteousness. Heb 12:4, Isaiah 59:
When we come into Christ, we come with the burden that we have learned from the world, and our minds have been conformed. Still, as you begin to put on Christ, you will realize that some thoughts pattern, habits, or addictions do not align with the personality you have chosen to become; hence the need to drop those burdens arises.
A child of God is required to do away with this lifestyle and align with the Love of God. Your inability to put a checker and restrain ungodly thoughts, desires, habits, and addictions makes you vulnerable and susceptible.
Thus the need to know how to set standards and boundaries as a Christian.
Practical Steps to set standards and Boundaries as a Christian
Practical ways you can restrain and cut off ungodly thoughts, desires, habits, and addictions in your life as a Christian and implant God’s words in your hearts.
Cry to God to help you and guide you out of them.
Yes, we all understand that it might seem challenging to do away with these acts, but you should understand that you are not alone; the Holy Ghost is with and in you, and you have changed your location because you have been translated to the kingdom of Christ Jesus and you are now a new creature.
This new creature is equipped to cause change, you are no longer the person you used to be, and you have support now; you are a child of God, and the evil one has no power over you unless you allow Him. Colossians1:13-20, 2Cori 5:17
Talk to God about it, ask for His guidance, and ask Him to bring your attention to the desires, thoughts, conclusions, and lifestyle He wants you to renew.
Tell Him of your willingness to submit yourself to Him and walk with Him forever.
Be sincere with yourself and make a conscious effort to take note of thoughts, desires, habits, and addictions you display that He brings to your mind. Write them down in a book or phone to enable you to evaluate and follow up.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,
I________________ willingly commit myself to you,
I give you full permission to purify and restore my mind of any knowledge, understanding, or standard that is not yours.
I want to know you, Father, and I want to hold you; I want to live for you and walk with you forever.
Let your life reign supreme over all my gateways and life
Guide me that I will be transformed by renewing my mind to the image of your Son, Jesus Christ.
In Jesus’s name. Amen
Believe in your heart and trust in the Lord.
We all believe or trust in something; the questions are, what do you believe? Does your belief shut the hands of God off or embrace Him with open hands? Remember, God, has given us free will and will not force Himself on anyone.
The almighty God made us, and the devil is not more equipped with knowledge that God is with man.
It is just like a faulty Toyota car wondering and asking the manufacturer/mechanic if it can ever be fixed, powered on, and moved from one place to another.
Believe in your heart and trust the Lord to help you overcome this challenge and become who He has called you to be; holy, righteous, blessed, healed, whole, priest, king, and His Son.
Be open to receiving and submitting to instructions or leadings from the Holy Ghost.
This is vital because the Holy Ghost knows the instrument the devil used to hold you down.
When the guidance of the Holy Ghost comes, pray about it to be sure it’s truly from the Holy Ghost, then proceed to execute.
It could be to forgive or cut off from specific actions or friends, throw away certain objects, or purify your thoughts or conclusions you have made concerning certain situations, events, persons, or things.
Be alert and prepared.
Feed on God’s word in this area.
This is where you do your research on them, find out who displayed them in the bible and how it was treated, and search out scriptures that speak the solutions to them; for e.g., if you masturbate or gossip or walk in bitterness, find out what the bible recorded about the subject.
Listen to messages by men of God that talk on this topic, and you will discover that masturbation has to do with the spirit of lust, channeling our sexual desires wrongly and not being able to restrain them.
Confront the thoughts, desires, habits, and conclusions you have in your mind with God’s word you have heard and researched.
Ensure you confront them daily with God’s word until they have gone away and you have established God’s words in your soul as the master. Colossians 3:2
Become versed in the subject, and you can teach others to do the same after dominating it.
Make decrees and declarations.
As children of God, we have authority over our lives, families, and territories as judges; we have been made priests and kings; thereby, we are expected by God to exercise authority over that which concerns us. As a church, God has given us the ability to judge and enforce His will.
We are to stand on the laws and ordinances made by God, make decrees and declarations and insist that the circumstances or situation submit to the will of the Father.
Depending on the situation, being, or thing, the response can be immediate or take time to show in the physical realm. Do not be deceived or frustrated and relent; the situation or events conform to the words of God that you speak with understanding.
An example is the law that God decreed in John 3:16 because of the decree He made you heard, believed, and gave your life to Christ by speaking in declaration with your mouth to accept that Jesus came, died, resurrected, and ascended; because of this truth, you received the Lord Jesus into your life and came into Christ Jesus.
Testimony
I was ill for some years with typhoid fever at university; it was so bad that I could not successfully write some of my exams. I would stool, vomit and be dizzy, but when I gave my life to Christ, I started hearing God’s word, especially this scripture;
Romans 6:10-11. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
I would ponder on this scripture and declare these words, even on the sick bed, until I discovered that I had not been ill for a while. I did a test, and it was confirmed that I was healed just by God’s word.
Identify what you engage in that feeds the thoughts, desire, habit, or addiction and cut it off.
Look out for how it starts and what feeds it; using the above example, masturbation begins with a lack of proper sex education.
Identify thought patterns, pictures, and videos that stimulate the appetite and cut them off from your environment, if it is on your phone, delete the videos and pictures, and throw or keep away the books, magazines, or pictures that stimulate your thoughts to do evil.
Make a conscious effort to think about their effects on your life.
Sex education is a broad subject and should be introduced in levels as the child grows.
It teaches about our sexual organs and their functions, the act of sex, when it should be engaged, and with whom it should be engaged.
The need for this subject can not be overemphasized; darkness and shadows will rule when a bright Light is not turned on.
Learn to rule the sensual desire; it’s normal to feel sexual desire, and it is not a sin to feel them but master how to contain it and subject them to the knowledge you have gathered from God’s word.
It is like learning a skill; it comes with challenges, but if you stay on it and insist, you will surely overcome it.
On gossip, meditate on God’s love towards you, and see how much He values and cares for you.
To redeem man, God had to come in His Son Jesus to be sacrificed for all men. This is to demonstrate man’s value to God.
Value yourself and people the way God values you; hence when you notice people gossiping about others, stay away and find other healthy company; if possible, make a deliberate effort to cut them off completely if necessary.
Engage your mind with holy, good thoughts, scriptures, stories, and lessons from the bible, maintain an exercise routine(hit the gym), learn a skill, join a training, start a business, offer your services, and attend church fellowship for idle hands are the devil’s workshop.
Close or Refuse to allow your imagination to paint the picture.
This angers the devil a lot because it effectively shuts him away from you.
For masturbation, the person might be engaging in porn and have pictures of it in his/her mind or begin to imagine themselves engaging in the act.
At this point, you close your imaginations to these thoughts; in other words, you refuse to paint the pictures in your mind. From time to time, as they come to your imagination, refuse to allow your mind to paint the picture.
Refuse to imagine them; instead, start speaking God’s word and praying in tongues.
If you were sitting, you could stand up, move around, leave the house, or have a cold bath while confessing God’s word concerning the subject.
As for gossiping, remind yourself of God’s love for man, rather pray for the individual and ask God to restore the individual in accordance with God’s word and believe that the person will be better.
Prayer
Every access to the devil created by or around me by the blood of Jesus is shut now in the name of Jesus.
I invite the Holy Ghost/Lord Jesus to every area of my life (my soul and body)
Come and reign and rule over my life, and all that concerns me in Jesus’s name. Amen
Respond to your thoughts, pictures, or videos that come to your mind by speaking to them.
Thoughts, pictures, or videos play in our minds, and sometimes they can be from the devil; we must respond to them and not ignore them.
When it is being replayed from stored records in your memory from what you have seen, heard, or felt as far as they are not consistent with God’s word, you cast them out and replace them with God’s thoughts.
Thoughts of fear can come to your mind when they do; respond with this scripture about fear. 2Timo 1:7, Psalm 23:4, 27:1,34:4-8, 46:1-3, 56:3-4, Joshua 1:9
Confront and Judge the thoughts with God’s thoughts; when they come to your mind, say to them.
Confessions
I nail these thoughts or patterns, habits, or addictions to the cross; the blood of Jesus purifies my imagination, reasoning, and emotions.
Jesus was bruised for my iniquity( punishment/consequence for sin)
By His stripes, I am healed
My Lord Jesus was pierced and wounded for my transgression
Father, I thank you for the blood of Jesus that washed me, cleansed me from Sin and death
I was bought with the precious blood of Christ; the evil one has no power over me
I have the life of God in me (Eternal life).
I am holy, accepted, and loved by God.
I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus
Build your consciousness.
As a child of God, you need to be Christ-conscious; in other words, understand who you are, and in so doing, you focus on Christ and put on Christ. Confront your thoughts with what God’s word says deliberately and consistently.
Pull out your research note, highlight the scriptures you have studied that align with God’s thoughts on the subject matter, and start confessing them; they are the truth you have learned, do this daily. It helps you while meditating on God’s word. Joshua 1:8, Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Dare to believe and trust in the Lord and the power of His might.
Thank you for reading, I look forward to receiving your feedback in the comment section.
