“The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’
“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
“Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver.’” Matthew 25:23-28 (NLT)
Setting and maintaining our boundaries is an active rather than passive process. Being paralyzed by fear and just letting things happen to us harms us in several ways. It is depressing to us, and it discourages others from offering help as well. Our activity needs to come from a humble place, a gentle place, according to the Word of God, but it is essential that we actively work to maintain relationships and not to give up, because God doesn’t give up on His relationship with us.
