277that you’ve transgressed some important rules in your limit set-
ting. Many people experience intense critical self-judgment
when they begin telling the truth about what is and isn’t their
biblical responsibility. Why is that? Let’s look at the answer in
terms of slavery and freedom.
Boundary-injured individuals are slaves. They struggle to
make value-based decisions on their own, but they most often
reflect the wishes of those around them. And even though they
can be surrounded by supportive boundary lovers, they still
experience trouble setting limits.
The culprit here is a weak conscience, or an overactive and
unbiblically harsh internal judge. Though we need our internal
“evaluator” to help us know right from wrong, many people
carry around an extremely self-critical—and inaccurate—
conscience. They feel that they are transgressing when they aren’t.
Because of this overactive judge, the boundary-injured indi-
vidual often has great difficulty setting limits. Questions such as,
“Aren’t you being too harsh?” and “How can you not attend the
party? What a selfish thought!” are raised.
You can imagine the havoc when the struggler actually sets a
limit or two, even a small one. The conscience moves into over-
drive, as its unrealistic demands are being disobeyed. This rebel-
lion against honest boundaries is a threat to the parental control
of the conscience. It attacks the soul with vigor, hoping to beat
the person into submitting again to its untruthful do’s and don’ts.
In a funny way, then, activating the hostile conscience is a
sign of spiritual growth. A signal that you may be protesting
unbiblical restraints. If the conscience were silent and provid-
ing no “how could you?” guilt-inducing messages, it might mean
that you were remaining enslaved to the internal parent. That’s
why we encourage you to rejoice in the guilt. It means you are
moving ahead.
Step #7: Practicing Grownup No’s
Think for a minute about this question: Who is your number-
one “boundary buster”? Who is the foremost person in your life
with whom it’s difficult to set limits? More than one person may
How to Measure Success with Boundaries