If you own a dog, it may well be that you own one of those popular collars that zaps him every time he crosses the property line. After enough “zaps” the dog finally learns that the best place for him is within those lines.

Boundaries are essential for every Christian. Too often we go to one extreme or the other and miss the whole point of why God gives us biblical guidelines. We can either be like the Corinthians who didn’t believe in any standards. Or we can be like the Judaizers who worshipped a system instead of the Savior.

God has given us clearly defined boundaries. Without them we can fall into dangerous sin. Every Christian and every family should establish these ground rules well before temptation strikes.

And yet we can just as easily grow so comfortable inside the lines that we begin to put our full weight and trust in what we’re “not doing.” We pat ourselves on the back and think that avoiding the bad is all there is to a relationship with God.

Boundaries alone do not make a person spiritual. There is more to the Christian life. But we have to have both biblical guidelines for our life and a daily walk in order to be effective followers of Christ. The truth is that these boundaries give us the freedom to pursue God’s best for life.