Some words pierce like thorns, not because they’re untrue, but because they brush up against a part of us still learning to stand tall. Today’s reflection stirs that tender place in me — the place that once confused love with overgiving, and peace with silence.

It’s a strange ache when someone pulls back not because you’ve wronged them, but because you’ve grown. Growth — real, God-led transformation — often reveals the unspoken contracts we never meant to sign: “I will stay small if it keeps you comfortable.” “I will overextend so you don’t feel the lack in your own soul.” “I will dim my light so you don’t feel the need to hide your own.”

Yet God, in His mercy, does not leave us there. He leads us gently but firmly into freedom, one boundary at a time.

What a trap it is to live shackled to others’ expectations — shrinking back, second-guessing our no’s, apologising for healthy limits. But safety, true soul-safety, is found in trusting God more than we fear man’s disapproval.

I've seen it in my own life. Every time I’ve drawn a boundary, not in anger but in love and alignment, someone has felt the shift. Some stayed. Some stepped back. Some walked away entirely. It hurt. It still does some days. Yet in the aftermath of that pain came peace — deep, clear, Holy Spirit peace.

Boundaries are not walls to keep people out. They are the fences that honour the garden God is cultivating within us. They protect the tender seedlings of healing, identity, and truth. Without them, weeds flourish and fruit withers.

Keep growing, beloved. Even if your roots push against old containers. Even if your branches reach where others can’t follow. Those who are meant to journey with you will not be threatened by your bloom — they will celebrate it.

Not everyone will clap when you choose health over hustle, rest over resentment, honesty over performance. But Heaven rejoices when you step into the truth of who God called you to be — no longer defined by others’ comfort, but refined by His love.