Personal boundaries: how the Church views themtranslated

Now it is fashionable to talk about personal boundaries; we hear about them from our own children, from colleagues at work, from coaches on the Internet. What does the Church say about personal boundaries, given that the main Christian virtues are humility and patience?

Let's start with the fact that the very concept of personal boundaries does not contradict the Christian view of man. In the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39), a person’s special relationship to himself is present as something self-evident. Moreover, it becomes a measure of attitude towards another. A Christian is called to see the value of another person without denying his own value and responsibility for his life.

Let's move on. The Bible, the book of Genesis, says that man was created in the image and likeness of God. This means that the person himself, his inner world, his emotions, his strength deserve to be treated with care.

Christ’s words from the Sermon on the Mount about turning the other cheek are often understood as a call to endure violence and not resist the aggressor. But the meaning of this statement is hardly in unconditional submission to someone else’s will. It is important that it sounds after a reminder of the Old Testament principle of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” which required...