Christ Owns Me

Who owns me: Christ
Who controls me: Christ
Who is responsible for me: Christ

No one else owns me, no one else controls me and no one else is responsible for me.

We have friends and family whom God has placed in our lives that we are responsible "before God" to treat with dignity and respect and they are responsible for treating us with dignity and respect.

When we are a follower of Christ, we do our part, however we have others in our lives who do not honor us or God, they walk in the lust of their own minds, whether it be lust for money, power or any other worldly device that affords them pleasure.

God has given us clear boundaries to obey that will bring us closer to Him while living as He wants us to live. When God's boundaries for us are violated by others, we are responsible before God to defend those boundaries.

For example: When we have decided to obey God in remaining married to a spouse for life, we must remove from our life anyone who would tell us we should divorce, this is only one example there are many more. I mention divorce because it is rampant in the church today. I have met many people who will pressure a person to divorce, which God forbids, while bludgeoning anyone who would encourage someone to stay married, which God commands.

Any time a friend or relative suggests or pressures us to go against what God has told us, then they must be chastised, if they will not stop then they must be removed.

We cannot allow anyone to guilt us into disobeying God, or manipulate our emotions to violate what God has instructed us to do. When we see someone doing this on a consistent basis then they are not concerned about us, they are only concerned that we live according to their desires, it relieves them of the guilt they feel when we obey God.

Often those who are disobedient will punish those who do not live according to their mandates, that are not God's, rather than encouraging us to live according to God's principles.

In these times of apostasy, we will be continually asserting our boundaries with many who will be offended that we do not live the way they want us to live.

2 Timothy 3 clearly states that we are to get away from those who live in rebellion against God and demonstrate a controlling mentality. They do not just want to live they way they please, they want to harm those who won't accept their way for themselves.

When we realize what we are dealing with, it is easier to let go of those who will not honor God. Let them go, do not feel any obligation to keep them in your life, they have been sent by the devil to destroy your walk. If they want to remain because they have a changed heart, that is a different matter, but only if the Lord has changed it.

John 10:10-18
"10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”