Week 1: Introduction — Why This Book, Why Now

1.Lysa opens by acknowledging that she has sat in a counselor's office in deep relational pain and that this book was forged there, not just researched from a distance. How does knowing the author's personal struggle shape your willingness to trust what she's about to teach?

2.What is the relationship — or the pattern in relationships — that most prompted you to open this book? You don't have to name the person, but can you name the feeling it produces in you?

3.Lysa introduces the key idea that boundaries are a God idea, not a self-help concept. What assumptions or hesitations did you bring into this book about whether setting limits is spiritually legitimate?

4.She also introduces Jim Cress, her Christian counselor, as a voice throughout the book. What is your instinctive reaction to the idea that therapy and Scripture belong in the same conversation? Where did that reaction come from?

5.Lysa makes a distinction early on between relationships that are difficult and relationships that are destructive. Even before reading further, what words come to mind when you try to draw that line for yourself?

6.Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." How have you previously understood this verse? Does framing it as a boundary verse change anything for you?

7.What do you hope to be different in your relationships — or in yourself — by the time you finish this book? Write it down specifically, so you can return to it in the final week.