Latest / Marriage Life and More and Bible Study / 6 Misconceptions About Boundaries in Marriage - 235
Transcript
- 0:05Michelle Moore: I want to kind of go back to that where we were talking about saying no to disrespect or burnout is not self-centered, it's a way of caring for your emotional, physical and spiritual health so you can love better.
- 0:15Michelle Moore: I think a lot of times you know, as husband and wife in ministry you have to be careful with that because you do have to say no at some point, because you can get to the point where you're serving or you're doing this and you're doing that and you can get burned out.
- 0:32Michelle Moore: And I think that you know, just reading that of knowing that it's not self-centered, I mean, helps me tremendously, you know, because some people like Dan can say, like he said earlier, I think on our last episode, some people can serve, serve, serve, serve and then not affect them at all, while others they can serve but they can over-serve and it's detrimental on the inside where you don't recognize it.
- 0:58Michelle Moore: But I think sometimes I like the fact that if your spouse or something like that you can love better, if you have to say no and it's not self-centered.
- 1:10Daniel Moore: This week on Marriage Life and More.
- 1:12Daniel Moore: We're going to be talking about misconceptions with boundaries in marriage.
- 1:16Daniel Moore: We'll be back to get into that right after this.
- 1:19Daniel Moore: Thank you, welcome to Marriage Life and More.
- 1:54Daniel Moore: This is a podcast about marriage, bible and book studies.
- 1:57Daniel Moore: We interview people with inspiring stories.
- 1:59Daniel Moore: I'm Daniel Moore, your host, my wife Michelle Moore, over here hey, hey, beautiful co-host with me this week as we're going to go through another episode here.
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- 2:37Daniel Moore: Well, last week we started talking about boundaries in marriage, and we went through a lot of definitions last week of different types of boundaries that are usually put into place in a biblical marriage emotional, physical, spiritual and relational.
- 2:51Daniel Moore: So if you haven't listened to that episode.
- 2:53Daniel Moore: You might want to go back and check that out before you start out this week's episode.
- 2:57Daniel Moore: This week we're going to continue on deeper into that conversation on boundaries and this week we'll be talking about misconceptions about boundaries in marriage.
- 3:07Daniel Moore: So as we get started this week talking about boundaries, the first question we want to ask, I guess, is why do many couples avoid setting boundaries?
- 3:25Daniel Moore: Well, many couples avoid setting boundaries in marriage because they fear it's going to create conflict, seem unloving or make them appear selfish.
- 3:33Daniel Moore: Some worry that expressing needs or limits will upset their spouse or damage their relationship, so they stay silent to keep the peace.
- 3:40Daniel Moore: But that peace is often temporary and just surface level.
- 3:44Daniel Moore: Others may not even realize boundaries are healthy.
- 3:48Daniel Moore: They confuse boundaries with emotional walls or rejection, especially if they grew up in homes where their needs weren't respected.
- 3:55Daniel Moore: In some cases one spouse may feel guilty for asserting themselves, especially if they were taught that love means always giving in or sacrificing.
- 4:03Daniel Moore: Unfortunately, avoiding boundaries often leads to resentment, burnout and disconnection, because unspoken expectations and repeated violations of emotional or relational space quietly erodes trust and intimacy over time.
- 4:20Daniel Moore: So the second question we have this week as we start can boundaries exist in a loving, selfless marriage?
- 4:25Daniel Moore: Yes, boundaries can and actually they absolutely should exist in a marriage.
- 4:31Daniel Moore: They should exist in a loving, selfless marriage, because they are not about keeping love out, they are about protecting it.
- 4:38Daniel Moore: A truly selfless marriage doesn't mean ignoring your own needs or allowing harmful behavior.
- 4:43Daniel Moore: It means loving your spouse in a way that honors both of you as whole, respected individuals.
- 4:49Daniel Moore: Boundaries help define what is healthy, respectful and safe within the relationship, which creates space for trust, vulnerability and deeper connection to grow.
- 4:59Daniel Moore: Far from being barriers to love, boundaries are actually a form of love.
- 5:04Daniel Moore: They say that I care about us enough to be honest about what I need and to respect what you need too.
- 5:12Daniel Moore: In this way, boundaries support, not hinder, a selfless, christ-centered marriage.
- 5:19Daniel Moore: So I know, as we talk about boundaries, a lot of people like to probably cringe when they hear that word because they just don't look at boundaries.
- 5:25Daniel Moore: I don't think to probably cringe when they hear that word because they just don't look at boundaries.
- 5:26Daniel Moore: I don't think in a way that they probably should.
- 5:28Daniel Moore: You know, a lot of people they misunderstand boundaries.
- 5:31Daniel Moore: They assume that they're signs of rejection or selfishness or even emotional distance.
- 5:37Daniel Moore: But in reality, healthy boundaries strengthen a marriage because they protect intimacy, respect and emotional safety.
- 5:44Daniel Moore: So we're going to talk about a few misconceptions here this week about boundaries in marriage and the truths that connect those together.
- 5:53Daniel Moore: So the very first misconception here that we're going to talk about and this is probably one of the biggest things that people think about boundaries whenever they think about putting a boundary in place, they look at it as a wall, and so the very first misconception here is that boundaries are walls that keep my spouse out.
- 6:16Michelle Moore: Why don't you give us the truth on that one?
- 6:17Michelle Moore: Boundaries are not walls, they're doors with doorknobs on the inside.
- 6:19Michelle Moore: Healthy boundaries don't shut your spouse out, they invite in.
- 6:23Michelle Moore: Boundaries don't shut your spouse out, they invite in safe, respectful connection.
- 6:26Michelle Moore: While say stay away forever, boundaries say here's how we can connect in a way that honors both of us.
- 6:35Michelle Moore: For example, setting a boundary like I need 20 minutes to cool off before we talk isn't shutting your spouse out.
- 6:43Michelle Moore: It's protecting the conversation from becoming hurtful.
- 6:46Michelle Moore: That's so good.
- 6:48Daniel Moore: Have you ever felt like that a boundary was a wall in our relationship?
- 6:51Michelle Moore: Yeah, I did, and when we first got married, it definitely was.
- 6:54Michelle Moore: And you know, as we were talking about this, boundaries didn't even I mean for me, I never even thought of a boundary, to be quite honest.
- 7:08Michelle Moore: I mean, as we talk about boundaries like last week, this week, we're talking about next week just this is just not something that I really thought much about until later on in our marriage, which is a healthy thing to learn about at the very beginning, to be actually honest.
- 7:26Daniel Moore: Yeah, well, the biggest thing is when you look at a boundary like a wall versus just a boundary.
- 7:31Daniel Moore: That's there for a safe reason is, whenever you actually have a wall in place, you end up like we did at one point in our marriage, because that wall was put there to completely create a division between me and you for a reason.
- 7:45Daniel Moore: Yeah, you know there were things that I did not want you to know about me.
- 7:48Daniel Moore: There were things I did not want to be honest with you about.
- 7:51Michelle Moore: Same here.
- 7:52Daniel Moore: In communication Same and you had the same issues on your side of the wall.
- 7:55Daniel Moore: And so here, at the very beginning, you described boundaries as doors with doorknobs on the inside.
- 8:03Daniel Moore: Describe boundaries as doors with doorknobs on the inside, and that's a very significant thing to say, because what that actually is speaking is I have this boundary in place because this is my safety mechanism, right, this is my safe space.
- 8:15Daniel Moore: It's not because that I'm locking you out, right.
- 8:17Daniel Moore: But when I'm ready and I'm wanting to go ahead and communicate through this and figure this issue out or the situation, I will open that door and then we will usher in this communication back and forth to resolve and come to a resolution to this issue.
- 8:33Michelle Moore: I was thinking of, you know, when I was reading this, boundaries are Walls that Keep my Spouse Out.
- 8:37Michelle Moore: It reminds me of a time where I was like reading a book where Havilah Cunnington was talking about and I can't remember if it was a book or if it was just a study that she did online but she talked about gates, and the gates was well, actually a gate.
- 8:55Michelle Moore: A gate was to her backyard.
- 8:57Michelle Moore: She allowed anybody to come through that back gate when she opened the gate.
- 9:02Michelle Moore: Otherwise, she didn't let anybody in.
- 9:04Michelle Moore: It was her boundary, and I learned so much through that because we were going through a situation with some family members, our kids, and you know, sometimes you have to set those boundaries and you have to shut that gate and it's healthy.
- 9:22Michelle Moore: It's healthy for the person that opens a gate and shuts the gate, and I think that is the same as a marriage.
- 9:28Michelle Moore: You know you have that boundary that you have to do, and so anytime I hear anyone talk about boundaries, I automatically go to my gate like am I allowing my gate to be open to this?
- 9:40Michelle Moore: Or if I'm shutting my gate?
- 9:42Michelle Moore: Because if I shut my gate, I'm not going to allow it to affect me whatsoever and it's not going to go there, but if'm shutting my gate, because if I shut my gate I'm not going to allow it to affect me whatsoever and it's not going to go there.
- 9:47Michelle Moore: But if I open my gate then I feel safe, I feel secure with this being allowed to come into my backyard.
- 9:55Daniel Moore: And.
- 9:55Michelle Moore: I'm going to allow it to be in my backyard, but that doesn't mean at some point in time that person may end up back out on my gate.
- 10:02Michelle Moore: So it's protecting yourself, and the same thing in marriage you have to.
- 10:08Michelle Moore: You know you do have to protect it, but you have to be.
- 10:12Michelle Moore: It's not a wall for you just to block everything out, Because, again, that's what you did.
- 10:19Michelle Moore: That's what I did and you just can't do that.
- 10:22Michelle Moore: You have to be able to allow someone in that space, especially it's your spouse, but it has to be a safe space.
- 10:30Daniel Moore: Yeah, when you was talking about that situation, that happened in our family when that gate was closed.
- 10:35Daniel Moore: Look what happened Over time.
- 10:37Daniel Moore: It actually resolved itself.
- 10:39Daniel Moore: You know, we we got to a point where we were able to communicate.
- 10:42Michelle Moore: I mean God was when I shut that gate.
- 10:44Michelle Moore: I mean God, god took care of it.
- 10:46Michelle Moore: It wasn't like it wasn't immediately.
- 10:48Daniel Moore: Yeah, it took several months.
- 10:50Michelle Moore: Yes.
- 10:51Daniel Moore: But it still came back around.
- 10:52Michelle Moore: But I knew.
- 10:53Michelle Moore: I knew I had to shut that gate.
- 10:56Daniel Moore: Yeah, you know, and so just always keep in your mind.
- 11:02Daniel Moore: You know, whenever situations come up that triggers you, that automatically wants you to shut down and automatically wants you to quit communicating with that person, just make sure that you're not building a wall situation and start opening that door for God to come in and start doing what he's going to do in that to help you get ready for when that time comes, that you can open that door from the inside with your doorknob and you can allow that situation to come back in.
- 11:34Daniel Moore: At that point you can discuss it, hopefully in a safe manner, with that person and come to a resolution.
- 11:40Michelle Moore: Well, I like the fact that it said you know setting the boundary.
- 11:43Michelle Moore: Like I need 20 minutes to cool off one communication and a boundary lets you know, hey, I need some time, let me cool off that communication.
- 11:57Michelle Moore: Communication plays such a big part.
- 12:00Michelle Moore: Comes back into everything, oh yes, all the way.
- 12:03Daniel Moore: Yeah, can't be married without communication.
- 12:05Michelle Moore: I guess it's just impossible.
- 12:08Daniel Moore: It's very, and even if it is possible, it's very difficult, yeah, if it's not there.
- 12:12Daniel Moore: So that's the first misconception that we just want to blow out of the water here is that boundaries, they're not a wall.
- 12:19Daniel Moore: They shouldn't be a wall.
- 12:21Daniel Moore: You might be making it a wall, but you should not be doing that.
- 12:23Daniel Moore: That is correct and make sure that you keep that as as Michelle described it.
- 12:27Daniel Moore: I like how that analogy was, you know, as a gate and where it's just as a door.
- 12:32Daniel Moore: However you want to look at that, make sure you keep it that way so that way, when the time comes, you can resolve that conflict and that issue and take care of that.
- 12:47Daniel Moore: So the second misconception here about boundaries is that they're selfish Boundaries.
- 12:57Daniel Moore: In truth, they are actually stewardship.
- 13:00Daniel Moore: They're not really selfishness.
- 13:02Daniel Moore: Saying no to disrespect or burnout is not self-centered.
- 13:06Daniel Moore: It's a way of caring for your emotional, physical and spiritual health so that you can love better.
- 13:11Daniel Moore: Jesus set boundaries regularly.
- 13:13Daniel Moore: He withdrew from crowds, he said no to demands and didn't let others define his mission.
- 13:18Daniel Moore: Boundaries are actually a Christ-like act of love and clarity.
- 13:22Daniel Moore: They are not selfishness.
- 13:29Michelle Moore: And what's funny is Havla, and I think that's the reason why the gate thing has always stuck with me is because exactly how Jesus set boundaries, you know, and that's biblical.
- 13:36Daniel Moore: Yeah, it is very biblical.
- 13:38Daniel Moore: But you know, when you start setting up a boundary to a situation where another person is involved, you know, more often than not that person on the other side of that door does probably look at it like you're being selfish because you just don't, you don't want to enter into this conflict right now.
- 13:55Daniel Moore: It's all about you, it's all being centered around you.
- 13:59Daniel Moore: But in all reality, just remember, as spouses, if you guys have a disagreement or you have a situation that comes up that might cause some conflict, where one of the spouses has to step back for a moment and put up that barrier temporarily at the very upset and everything, you still need to understand each other enough to make sure that you give that space and, honestly, both of you at that point really need to be setting up a boundary.
- 14:32Daniel Moore: At that point it shouldn't just be one spouse setting the boundary, because both sides of that need to have a boundary there to make sure that you don't overstep each other's space.
- 14:42Daniel Moore: And you know, even in marriage ministry this is something that with our marriage ministry that we're involved in there's a model that's used in that and basically it's kind of sort of the way that you're talking about the gate in your backyard, but each spouse has their own yard and then you also have your own safe space and you don't cross into the shared yard until each of you are ready and available to do that in a safe manner.
- 15:12Daniel Moore: Then you cross over into the shared spaces.
- 15:15Michelle Moore: And one can't pull the other one into it.
- 15:17Daniel Moore: Right.
- 15:17Daniel Moore: It has to be a mutual agreement between both parties, and that's how you have a safe marriage, that where you can cohabit and love each other unconditionally, like you should, and resolve conflicts.
- 15:29Michelle Moore: And not only in that.
- 15:31Michelle Moore: When they're in their yards they are focusing and working.
- 15:34Michelle Moore: I wouldn't say focusing, but they are working on themselves with the relationship with Christ, because Christ is at the top.
- 15:40Michelle Moore: So when you're completely worked in with God, then you come down into that yard and you are both filled with love with Christ.
- 15:49Michelle Moore: That the fact that you can work through those and see the other person's point whether you guys agree or not, you can work through those issues.
- 15:57Daniel Moore: Yeah, and if you see that model, I'm glad you brought that up because that model is represented by circles.
- 16:04Daniel Moore: So the husband has a circle, the spouse has a circle, the yard in the middle is a piece of each circle circle and then a space in between where you both would cross into when you come into it equally, and God's circle is in all of those circles.
- 16:18Daniel Moore: His crosses over into every aspect of that relationship.
- 16:23Michelle Moore: It's a great model.
- 16:24Daniel Moore: Really neat when you see that it gives you a whole different outlook and aspect on marriage and how boundaries should work.
- 16:30Daniel Moore: Yeah, and how they should work in a consistent way.
- 16:33Daniel Moore: So when your spouse is setting up a boundary, don't automatically fly off on the.
- 16:38Daniel Moore: You're just being selfish tangent, because that's not really.
- 16:42Daniel Moore: It might be a case in some situations if it's an ungodly type of marriage where God's not in the middle of it, but if you guys are allowing God in there, there shouldn't be any selfishness involved with that.
- 16:54Michelle Moore: I want to kind of go back to that where we were talking about saying no to disrespect or burnout is not self-centered, it's a way of caring for your emotional, physical and spiritual health so you can love better.
- 17:05Michelle Moore: I think a lot of times you know, as husband and wife in ministry you have to be careful with that because you do have to say no at some point, because you can get to the point where you're serving or you're doing this and you're doing that and you can get burned out.
- 17:21Michelle Moore: And I think that you know, just reading that of knowing that it's not self-centered, I mean, helps me tremendously, you know, because some people like Dan can say, like he said earlier I think on our last episode, some people can serve, serve, serve, serve and then not affect them at all.
- 17:37Michelle Moore: Why others they can serve but they can over serve and you know it's detrimental on the inside where you know you don't recognize it.
- 17:47Michelle Moore: But I think sometimes I like the fact that if your spouse or something like that, you can love better, if you have to say no and it's not self-centered.
- 17:58Daniel Moore: Yeah.
- 17:58Daniel Moore: I really really like that.
- 18:00Daniel Moore: When you're consumed with everything else around you, you don't leave that space to love each other.
- 18:04Michelle Moore: Yeah.
- 18:05Daniel Moore: If you can keep all of that stuff from consuming you, that leaves room for that love to operate.
- 18:09Michelle Moore: Yeah, sorry people, I had to do that.
- 18:14Michelle Moore: Dan and I are having a day trying to record.
- 18:21Michelle Moore: This has just been so funny.
- 18:23Michelle Moore: We had our dog spark earlier, but that's probably going to be cut out, but we just, you know we'll leave the motorcycle in there you're gonna hear me say that, but I just like the fact of that because I think sometimes you know you have to go back to the yard, you have to work on yourself.
- 18:39Daniel Moore: Yeah.
- 18:41Michelle Moore: And if you're over serving and you're not taking care of yourself and your internal relationship with Christ, you know it's going to reflect in your marriage as well.
- 18:51Michelle Moore: You know you may be short with someone or you're short with your husband or something.
- 18:55Michelle Moore: You need to pay attention to that and I think sometimes we love God and we want to be doing things for God, that you have to be careful with that and sometimes, setting that boundary, you have to remember you're not being selfish and you're not going to let that person down that you're serving for or anything like that or what you're doing, because you have to take care of your internal self.
- 19:20Daniel Moore: Yeah, yeah.
- 19:21Daniel Moore: And there's a lot of marriage.
- 19:23Daniel Moore: There's marriages out there that have fell apart, even with pastors, because they poured everything into their church and their congregation and neglected their marriage.
- 19:31Daniel Moore: Yeah, and you would think, if somebody's serving God in that way, how could they ever have that happen?
- 19:36Daniel Moore: But it happens.
- 19:37Michelle Moore: It does happen.
- 19:38Daniel Moore: It does.
- 19:38Daniel Moore: You have to be careful with that.
- 19:39Daniel Moore: The third misconception if I love someone, I shouldn't need boundaries.
- 19:45Daniel Moore: So tell us about that one.
- 19:49Michelle Moore: The truth is, love without boundaries becomes enabling, codependent or even harmful.
- 19:54Michelle Moore: True love includes truth and grace.
- 19:58Michelle Moore: Setting boundaries like please don't yell at me when we argue is not unloving.
- 20:05Michelle Moore: It's inviting healthier communication.
- 20:08Michelle Moore: Without boundaries, one spouse can begin to dominate or disrespect the other without realizing it and damaging the relationship.
- 20:17Michelle Moore: Boy, I go back to the earlier years of our marriage.
- 20:20Michelle Moore: Yeah, and this really explains it.
- 20:24Michelle Moore: Like you know, we are.
- 20:26Michelle Moore: We yelled at each other at times and um it.
- 20:29Michelle Moore: It isn't when it says please don't yell at me when we argue is not unloving yeah we weren't in a healthy boundary marriage at all.
- 20:41Michelle Moore: So yelling at you was me like this is what I have to say.
- 20:45Michelle Moore: You're gonna.
- 20:46Michelle Moore: You're gonna take what I have to say and this is gonna be my way, or the highway yeah so I really like the fact it's inviting healthier communication, which we don't do now.
- 20:56Michelle Moore: But yeah.
- 20:57Michelle Moore: I can't remember the last time we've yelled at each other.
- 21:00Daniel Moore: It's been a long time, thank goodness.
- 21:01Daniel Moore: I don't want you punching me.
- 21:05Michelle Moore: Hey, I didn't say that.
- 21:07Michelle Moore: Listen to him.
- 21:08Michelle Moore: I had to get you on that one.
- 21:09Michelle Moore: Oh, you did.
- 21:12Daniel Moore: That was a good one.
- 21:12Daniel Moore: That was a good one.
- 21:13Daniel Moore: Yeah, we have to remember that even because we have a deep love for each other does not mean that we're never going to have an argument.
- 21:19Michelle Moore: That's right.
- 21:19Daniel Moore: I mean it is very possible for some day for something to happen.
- 21:23Daniel Moore: Yeah, and with the pressures of life, the pressures of family, work, whatever it may be, everybody deals with that, and we do disagree.
- 21:31Daniel Moore: Yeah, and we have disagreements, and sometimes disagreements can get elevated, yes, and you can raise your voices.
- 21:37Daniel Moore: You can say some snippy things that you regret later.
- 21:40Daniel Moore: So just because you are fully madly in love with somebody, don't take that as a as to say that, oh, because of that, I don't have to set a boundary with you, because we're still human.
- 21:52Daniel Moore: It doesn't matter how much we love each other, we still have those human instincts and those human attributes, and there are days that we're going to wake up on the wrong side of the bed and something's going to flip that trigger and it's going to be a bad day.
- 22:03Daniel Moore: And so you have to always make sure that you conscientiously keep those boundaries in place so that when that does happen, then you have a process of how to process all of that through and then get together with the communication once you're both ready, and fix that problem and not let it go on all day long.
- 22:21Aria: Right.
- 22:21Daniel Moore: And so you know, love does it be in truth and grace.
- 22:26Daniel Moore: That's so true with love, because if we truly love someone, then we're going to be truthful and upfront and honest with that person, yes, and then we're also going to give them the most grace, because that's the person that we love the most in our life, you know, besides God, and so we should have the most abundance of grace for our spouse over anyone, to make sure that that relationship stays where it should be.
- 22:48Daniel Moore: So if you're one of these couples that's just so madly in love and you drool over each other all the time, and you know you've probably just been married a year and you haven't figured it all out yet, because Still need those boundaries yeah you still need those boundaries in place and just make sure that they're good, healthy ones.
- 23:05Daniel Moore: biblically, the fourth misconception if we need boundaries, our marriage must be weak, and I can see people thinking that, but the truth of it is all.
- 23:25Daniel Moore: Healthy marriages require boundaries, even the strong ones, and especially the strong ones.
- 23:30Daniel Moore: Boundaries are sign of maturity, not weakness.
- 23:34Daniel Moore: They show that both partners are willing to communicate honestly, take responsibility for their actions and respect each other's needs.
- 23:40Daniel Moore: The absence of boundaries often leads to confusion, resentment or burnout, while the presence of boundaries fosters truth and peace.
- 23:48Daniel Moore: And this one here, I think, is so good especially from a guy's side of things.
- 23:55Daniel Moore: You know, when we look at love, we look at marriage and that kind of thing, a lot of guys are more on the manly side of things.
- 24:01Daniel Moore: They're like I don't need no boundaries, we've done, we're going to be a man, we'll figure this stuff out, you know.
- 24:05Daniel Moore: And we want to come in like a bullet Like not reading directions.
- 24:08Daniel Moore: Exactly so this would be.
- 24:12Daniel Moore: You know something that we as men even have to remember that just because we love our spouses and give into the womanly thing sometimes, or whatever you want to describe that doesn't mean we're weak.
- 24:23Daniel Moore: We give up our man card, and that means nothing like that at all.
- 24:26Daniel Moore: In all reality, michelle is thankful that I have my boundaries in place, just as I am she has hers in place, because it does.
- 24:35Daniel Moore: It shows that we're both willing to work on our marriages, regardless of what may come up.
- 24:39Daniel Moore: We have those things in place to make sure that if issues happen, we can work through those.
- 24:46Daniel Moore: Even just from the aspect of looking at it from the outside, that I'm glad that you have a boundary in place that's not going to allow something to come in and wreck our marriage because of something I say or do, and I think you look at it the same way from the other side.
- 25:02Daniel Moore: So it shows that we are being intentional in our marriage.
- 25:07Daniel Moore: We are intentionally trying to make sure that those things are in place so that we don't resent each other in the long run.
- 25:13Michelle Moore: Yeah.
- 25:14Daniel Moore: Or we don't have confusion in what we both think, or whatever.
- 25:17Daniel Moore: We're on the same page with everything that's going on within our relationship, our family and our home and we're not getting burned out on each other.
- 25:23Daniel Moore: Yeah, because in a marriage, that's the last thing you want to happen, is that burnout.
- 25:28Michelle Moore: Yeah.
- 25:28Daniel Moore: You're living together the rest of your life, so you have to make sure you understand how to keep this together, and so I think that whenever we have these boundaries in place, then you know that does.
- 25:39Daniel Moore: It creates that space of trust where I can trust you, you can trust me that we're going to handle things the way we should, and then that keeps the peace in our home.
- 25:48Michelle Moore: So, good.
- 25:49Daniel Moore: So the number five misconception boundaries mean I don't trust my spouse.
- 25:54Daniel Moore: What's the truth on that one?
- 25:57Michelle Moore: Boundaries help build trust, not destroy it.
- 26:00Michelle Moore: Healthy boundaries clarify expectations, reduce miscommunication and prevent unnecessary hurt.
- 26:07Michelle Moore: Hurt, for example, saying let's agree not to share private arguments with friends is a boundary that protects trust, not suspicion, and it's so good.
- 26:27Michelle Moore: That is very good.
- 26:29Daniel Moore: Yeah.
- 26:30Michelle Moore: And I think you know, just like how that example of you know, you might not think that's a boundary and just say, hey, let's just not do that.
- 26:38Michelle Moore: But in all reality, when you are setting those, those are boundaries.
- 26:42Daniel Moore: Yep, those are things that you don't want to cross over.
- 26:44Daniel Moore: Yeah, because the moment that you do, if you tell me that, if you say let's not share these private arguments, and then I go do it, what's that going to make you think about me?
- 26:58Daniel Moore: You're going to lose my trust in me, and so then what's going to happen after that?
- 27:03Daniel Moore: You're going to question, you know, second guess in the future, if I tell Daniel this boundary, is he going to keep it or not?
- 27:07Daniel Moore: Can I even trust him to?
- 27:10Daniel Moore: You know, do what I request, and it would be the same way with me.
- 27:13Daniel Moore: You know, something happened on the opposite side of that.
- 27:16Michelle Moore: Now, I do think that nobody's perfect.
- 27:19Daniel Moore: Right.
- 27:21Michelle Moore: And boundaries are set, but once in a great while, there, you know it's going to happen, you know, and that's where the grace comes in.
- 27:28Michelle Moore: Yeah, you know, you know, and that's where the grace comes in.
- 27:30Michelle Moore: Yeah, you know.
- 27:30Daniel Moore: And I think, as spouses, I know for myself and I think you feel the same way.
- 27:35Daniel Moore: If you know each other well enough, as a spouse, we know when we're truly repentant.
- 27:41Aria: Yeah.
- 27:46Daniel Moore: So I think there comes a point in your relationship and your marriage where if I say, hey, I'm really sorry about this, I shouldn't have done that, I'm not going to do it again, then you're going to know if I'm being legit with that or not, and so that's going to build that trust back.
- 28:00Daniel Moore: And then, of course, as you set another boundary in the future and I keep that boundary- that's going to start building that trust back stronger again.
- 28:09Daniel Moore: And so just because you put a boundary there does not mean that you don't trust each other.
- 28:14Daniel Moore: It just means again that you're trying to protect your marriage, you're trying to protect your relationship, and that does build trust because it's an honesty.
- 28:25Daniel Moore: It's really an honesty thing for the most part, because if and if you tell me to do something and I say I'm going to do it, and then I follow through, that's what builds trust.
- 28:35Daniel Moore: And so the more often that happens then your trust becomes stronger and stronger in that person.
- 28:39Daniel Moore: And so that's what these boundaries do.
- 28:43Daniel Moore: You set them in place to protect your personal relationship between you and your, your spouse, and in the outside world.
- 28:48Daniel Moore: And then when you guys keep those boundaries you keep, you know, going through those and not breaking that trust then that builds that trust between each other and it just helps that marriage to flourish.
- 29:00Daniel Moore: And so it's definitely, if you've got that mindset that if I set this boundary, my spouse is going to think I don't trust them.
- 29:08Michelle Moore: And your boundaries can be anything Like it can be hey, we're going to set a boundary, we're not going to spend this much money, we're going to set this much aside, you know, or hey, you're not going to go do this without me, or you know, it could be anything.
- 29:23Michelle Moore: But once you set those, make sure that you both are on you know, on the same page, and everything, because, as you can, it's the trust and honesty.
- 29:37Daniel Moore: Yep.
- 29:37Daniel Moore: And the final misconception to wrap up the episode for this week on boundaries is boundaries always lead to conflict or distance.
- 29:41Daniel Moore: Give us the truth on that one.
- 29:44Michelle Moore: Boundaries may create temporary tension, but they lead to deeper connection.
- 29:49Michelle Moore: At first, setting a boundary can feel uncomfortable, especially if one spouse is used to always pleasing or avoiding conflict, but over time they foster mutual respect, healthier communication there's that word again and lasting emotional safety which actually strengthens closeness.
- 30:09Michelle Moore: I really like that.
- 30:10Michelle Moore: That's a good one.
- 30:11Daniel Moore: Yeah, you know, when you have a boundary set there, we know that sometimes those boundaries don't come with icing on them Right.
- 30:21Daniel Moore: Sometimes we put those boundaries in place that it might upset the other spouse for a temporary span of time because it may trigger that well, you don't trust me in their mind, depending on what the situation may be.
- 30:37Daniel Moore: But as time goes along we know that healthy boundaries they do draw you closer.
- 30:44Daniel Moore: And that connection because, like we were just talking in the last one part of building that trust to the most trustfulness that we can have between each other, that does make our connection deeper.
- 30:58Daniel Moore: Yeah, because the more I trust you, the more I love you.
- 31:02Aria: Yeah.
- 31:02Daniel Moore: You know, the more that I feel like I can talk to you about things, the more I feel like I can share stuff with you that I don't share with anybody else, the more I feel like I can share stuff with you that I don't share with anybody else.
- 31:12Daniel Moore: You know, it gets to that intimate side of things where there's stuff that I will not tell anybody.
- 31:21Daniel Moore: But yet I have a deep enough connection with you because I trust you, because of these boundaries to put in place and we've kept those, those boundaries between us to be healthy and in a biblical way I get to a point where I know that I can share anything with you and you're going to understand or help me walk through or talk me through things, and I want to be that person for you.
- 31:36Daniel Moore: And so I know that it's easy to want to avoid conflict, especially if you have a personality like I've had in the past.
- 31:46Daniel Moore: I still don't really like conflict a whole lot, to be honest, but the way that I handle the marriage now with you, I don't have hardly any trouble with that anymore because me and you do such a good job of talking things out.
- 32:00Michelle Moore: Well, I think that's the communication thing it is.
- 32:02Michelle Moore: I mean honestly, we trust each other so much that we're open and honest about everything.
- 32:07Michelle Moore: I mean, I say things and I look at you sometimes and I'm like I know what he's thinking and then he'll say it, but it's like we've worked hard.
- 32:17Michelle Moore: I mean, you know, being married over 20 years and everything we've walked through it, marriage is work.
- 32:23Michelle Moore: I don't I mean, it's just work, you know, and it's not like you go to your job every day, you know to.
- 32:29Michelle Moore: It's like a relationship with Christ.
- 32:31Michelle Moore: It's work.
- 32:32Michelle Moore: It's not just handed to you and be like, oh okay, here you go.
- 32:36Michelle Moore: It's work and communication, boundaries, grace.
- 32:43Michelle Moore: There's so much in a marriage that you have to have.
- 32:46Michelle Moore: And you know, and I'm so thankful, though, that we've walked where we've walked to help us to be where we're at today, though.
- 32:51Michelle Moore: Yeah, and you know, and I'm so thankful, though, that we've walked where we've walked to help us to be where we're at today, though.
- 32:54Daniel Moore: Yeah.
- 32:54Michelle Moore: I mean, if you can do that from the very beginning and not have to walk what we did that's awesome, and that's our prayer for everybody.
- 33:02Michelle Moore: Yeah.
- 33:03Daniel Moore: Well, there's that saying that you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
- 33:06Daniel Moore: And, unfortunately, in our situation, I feel like that's the mantra that we live by for so long, because the turnaround in our marriage was when we almost got divorced.
- 33:16Daniel Moore: I mean, it took that to help us to understand how important this relationship really is, how much we really do need to communicate, how much we do need to rely on each other and trust each other, and it just changed the whole aspect of the whole thing at that point, because we almost lost it and we truly loved each other.
- 33:33Daniel Moore: And it just changed the whole aspect of the whole thing at that point because we almost lost it and we truly loved each other.
- 33:39Daniel Moore: You know, it was by stupidity that we ended up where we were and selfishness and a lot of the other things that goes into all of that and it shouldn't have taken that to make us turn around and to realize that.
- 33:49Daniel Moore: And that's one reason we share what we do on our podcast because, especially newlyweds people that's been married five, 10 years, whatever you're still kind of the first parts of your marriage it's so important that you start working on this stuff from day one.
- 34:02Michelle Moore: Yeah, you know, don't wait.
- 34:03Michelle Moore: Keep God at the center, exactly.
- 34:06Daniel Moore: Yeah, you don't wait until it's too late, and you know a lot of people.
- 34:10Daniel Moore: If you go into churches and talk to Christians or whatever, the first thing they'll say is well, you know, you just need to pray about it, because prayer changes things, you know.
- 34:19Michelle Moore: And it does.
- 34:20Daniel Moore: It does to an extent, but in all reality, it's not things that prayer changes.
- 34:25Daniel Moore: Prayer changes people.
- 34:26Daniel Moore: People changes things, and we always have to keep that in mind, because everything that happens in your life is usually instigated by a person, and so if that person does not change, then those things aren't necessarily going to change, because you're still dealing with a person in the middle.
- 34:44Daniel Moore: And so when you start praying about these things that are going on in your marriages and these bad things that are happening and all that kind of thing, make sure that you not only just pray for yourself, because you should always, you know, pray for yourself first.
- 34:56Daniel Moore: God, if there's anything in me, forgive me for this.
- 34:59Daniel Moore: You know, take care of home base first, but then pray for those other people that are involved that God would change their hearts and the process of all of that.
- 35:07Daniel Moore: The whole scenario changes at that point, and so that's where these boundaries come into play.
- 35:13Daniel Moore: Um, you know, and there's a lot of good uh myths that were busted here today on these boundaries, and hopefully, um, one of them resonated with someone out there that's listening If you're having some issues with with boundaries.
- 35:26Daniel Moore: Um, so we're going to go ahead and close up this week's episode with that.
- 35:30Daniel Moore: Next week's episode.
- 35:32Daniel Moore: We'll come back and we're going to start going through different areas of boundaries sexually and spiritually, just different places in our life where we set boundaries and why we do that and how we do that.
- 35:45Daniel Moore: So we'll talk about that on the next episode that we come back with our marriage episodes here.
- 35:51Daniel Moore: So in the meantime, though, don't forget that boundaries in marriage, they're not about control, avoidance or isolation.
- 35:58Daniel Moore: They're about creating a relationship where both people are free to love, respect and grow together without fear, confusion or resentment.
- 36:06Daniel Moore: Boundaries are not a sign of division.
- 36:09Daniel Moore: They're a pathway to deeper unity.
- 36:13Daniel Moore: In Proverbs, chapter four, verse 23,.
- 36:15Daniel Moore: It sums it all up.
- 36:16Daniel Moore: It says above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
- 36:21Daniel Moore: How do you guard your heart?
- 36:22Daniel Moore: You set up boundaries.
- 36:24Daniel Moore: It's all biblical in how all of this works.
- 36:27Daniel Moore: Well, is that all you have for this week to add to this?
- 36:31Daniel Moore: Okay?
- 36:31Daniel Moore: Well, we're going to go ahead then and call this one good.
- 36:33Daniel Moore: Please subscribe to be sure that you don't miss the next episode that comes along.
- 36:38Daniel Moore: I'm Daniel Moore, and my wife, michelle, has been sitting over here with me this week.
- 36:42Michelle Moore: Bye guys.
- 36:43Daniel Moore: And we're going to be back again later on.
- 36:45Daniel Moore: Thank you for listening.
- 36:46Daniel Moore: The show really be possible without you.
- 36:48Daniel Moore: If you're a fan of the show, leave a review.
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- 36:53Daniel Moore: Or if you'd like to help us out, just take a few seconds to give us a five-star click and please subscribe to us on your favorite platform.
- 36:57Daniel Moore: The links are in the show notes.
- 36:59Daniel Moore: Well, that's all for this week.
- 37:04Daniel Moore: We pray that your marriage is stronger and your walk with God is closer after this episode.
- 37:06Daniel Moore: This is an extension of Connecting the Gap Ministries and we pray that you have a blessed week.
- 37:11Aria: You've been listening to Connecting the Gap Podcast.
- 37:13Aria: In this world, there are many disconnects that cause chaos in our lives.
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