LOL - Living Our Legacy - Part 10

LOL - Living Our Legacy (Part 10)

(To see other posts in this series, click Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7,
 Part 8, and Part 9)

(Note: Oops!  I mistakenly left out one of the gifts.  This one was supposed to come before "Faithfulness". I'm adding this one tonight and then will do the final wrap-up tomorrow.)  

 Another housewarming gift we will open is BOUNDARIES.  Maybe you don't think of boundaries as a gift, but maybe by the end of this post you will realize that boundaries really are a gift.

 
Remember when we built our house in the second lesson?  I had you think of the framework/walls of the spiritual house as the Holy Spirit? In the Bible the Holy Spirit is referred to as a Counselor. I like to think of the Holy Spirit as my conscious, but that's not always a good thing. For some people their conscious is seared. It's been damaged and gotten used to doing things that aren't right or aren't good. Where maybe at one time their conscious would have kept them from doing something wrong – from sinning – maybe now their conscious is seared and those sinful thoughts and actions don't bother them any more.

At baptism we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38) Many times we don't talk about the Holy Spirit because we don't understand how He works. But we have to learn to rely on the Spirit within us.The Spirit will help us grow. For example, consider the fruits of the Spirit spoken of in Galatians 5:22-23. Not the fruits of US. We will grow these fruits with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will help us live a legacy of boundaries. Why do we need boundaries? To keep us from sin.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

It's a common known fact that children want boundaries. It's what they need. It makes them feel safe.  It makes them feel loved. 

A friend once told me that she was kind of jealous of me growing up.  She was jealous because my parents had rules, curfews, and always wanted to know where I was.  To her, those "boundaries" showed love.  Kind of interesting, isn't it? 

Boundaries = Love?  It sure seems like it!

We need boundaries, too. Boundaries keep us safe. They keep us from sin. The commandments in the Bible aren't there to harm us. They're not there to keep us from having fun. They are there to keep us from harm. They are to keep us from sin. They are to help us be holy. They are to help us live in Heaven some day.

Take a moment to read Romans 8.  This whole chapter talks about living by the Spirit.

Live a legacy by the boundaries you have in your life.