00:00There is a lesson being written in your life every single day, and most of the time it
00:10is not written with your words, it is written with your silence.
00:15It is written with what you excuse, what you minimize, and what you quietly carry even
00:22though it hurts.
00:23Every time you accept behavior that makes you feel small, disrespected, ignored, or
00:31taken for granted, you are teaching people how much access they are allowed to have to
00:38your heart, your time, and your peace.
00:44God never designed you to live in a state of emotional surrender.
00:48You were not created to be a spiritual doormat.
00:52You were created to be a son or daughter of the king, and royalty does not beg for respect.
01:02It walks in it.
01:05The Bible makes this clear when it says in Proverbs 4 verse 23, above all else, guard your heart,
01:14for everything you do flows from it.
01:17Notice, it does not say guard everyone else's feelings at the expense of your heart.
01:25It does not say protect other people's comfort while your soul is being wounded.
01:32It says guard your heart.
01:36Why?
01:37Because when your heart is drained, everything else in your life begins to collapse with it.
01:43Your energy, your clarity, your faith, your joy, and even your ability to love.
01:53Some of the weariness you feel is not because life is hard.
01:58It is because you are tolerating things God never told you to carry.
02:03You are tolerating, you are tolerating, you are tolerating, you are tolerating one-sided relationships
02:12where you give, and give, and give, and all you receive in return is exhaustion.
02:21And here is the truth many people never tell you.
02:24People will treat you the way you allow them to treat you, not the way you wish they would,
02:32not the way you deserve, the way you allow.
02:38And Jesus, oh, bless Jesus, he understood this deeply.
02:44He was the most loving person who ever walked the earth.
02:47And yet, he had strong boundaries.
02:52He did not chase people who rejected him.
02:54He did not beg people who mocked him.
02:58He did not stay where hearts were hardened.
03:03He loved everyone, but not everyone had access to him.
03:09There is a difference between loving people and allowing people to misuse you.
03:14Love does not require self-destruction.
03:19Matthew 7, verse 6 says,
03:22Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs.
03:30Now, that sounds harsh until you realize what Jesus is saying.
03:36Pearls are valuable.
03:38They are rare.
03:40They are precious.
03:41And, my friend, what God placed inside you,
03:48your faith, your heart, your dreams, your calling,
03:53is a pearl.
03:55When you give those things to people who do not honor them,
03:59you are not being loving.
04:02You are being careless with what God entrusted to you.
04:06Some of you have been pouring your soul into people who keep trampling on it.
04:12You have been showing up for people who never show up for you.
04:16You have been forgiving people who never change.
04:19And you call it grace.
04:22But God?
04:23Well, God calls it a lack of boundaries.
04:27You see, grace does not mean accepting abuse.
04:31Grace does not mean tolerating mistreatment.
04:35Grace means giving people the opportunity to change,
04:39not permission to continue.
04:44Even Jesus said,
04:46Go and sin no more.
04:49Grace was offered,
04:51but behavior was not excused.
04:54There is a holy power in deciding.
04:58This stops here.
05:00This disrespect stops here.
05:04This emotional manipulation stops here.
05:07This one-sided relationship,
05:10well, that stops here too.
05:12This consistent, constant draining of my peace
05:16stops here.
05:19Now, not because you're angry,
05:21and not because you're bitter,
05:24but because you are finally honoring what God placed inside you.
05:28One of the most spiritual things you can do
05:32is say no.
05:36No to being talked down to.
05:39No to being ignored.
05:42No to being treated like you are optional.
05:46No to being the only one who tries.
05:50When you stop tolerating what hurts you,
05:54one of two things will happen.
05:57People will either rise to meet your standards,
06:00or they will remove themselves from your life.
06:03And both outcomes are blessings.
06:06Because sometimes when we lose people in our lives,
06:09it's not always a loss.
06:13And God is not afraid of who leaves
06:15when you choose self-respect.
06:17He is protecting you from who you would have stayed
06:21and kept hurting you.
06:24John 10, verse 10 says,
06:27The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
06:32And some of the things stealing your peace
06:35are not accidents.
06:37They are tolerated intrusions.
06:40They are behaviors that have allowed,
06:43been allowed to live rent-free in your head,
06:47in your life.
06:49You have the authority in Christ
06:52to close doors that should never have been opened.
06:56And listen carefully, my friends.
06:59This does not make you cold.
07:01It makes you healthy.
07:04It does not make you selfish.
07:07It makes you whole.
07:10You can be loving and still have standards.
07:13You can be forgiving and still require change.
07:17You can be kind and still protect your peace.
07:24Jesus did.
07:26So today, ask yourself,
07:29what have I been tolerating that is slowly draining my joy?
07:34What have I been excusing that is quietly wounding my spirit?
07:38Because whatever you continue to tolerate
07:42will shape your future.
07:46And God, well, friends,
07:49God did not call you to survive.
07:53He called you to live.
07:56Be careful what you tolerate.
07:59You are teaching people how to treat you.
08:03God bless you, my friends.
08:09God bless you, my friends.
