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I’m making a distinction based on a nuance here: constraint and restraint mean more or less the same thing, except that “restraint” has an element of self-control in it. Constraint is a limitation or hindrance, while restraint includes self-limitation. For the sake of my argument here, constraint refers to a limitation on human behavior imposed from outside (laws, rules, regulations, limitations), while restraint refers to a limitation on our own behavior, imposed by ourselves from within.
The problem with constraints is that they don’t actually make us into better people. You’re not a good person because you follow the law; you’re just not a bad person if you follow the law. Following the law is effectively just being forced to not do bad things. Gold star.
So constraints are a mixed bag. They may stop us from doing bad things, but not in any way that actually improves or celebrates good character. They may also stop us from doing good things, or make necessary things much more difficult than they ought to be. At best, constraints are a compromise, an acknowledgement that we’re going to screw it up unless someone else makes us do it the right way.
Constraints restrict how or if a task can be done. Restraints prevent or stop an action from happening. Constraints are often external, environmental, or situational factors. Restraints can be internal (self-control) or external (physical restraints like handcuffs).
OR:
Constraints are the non-negotiable forces that are imposed on us, while restraints are the optional restrictions that we place on ourselves. Same effect, different source; the difference is in our ability to choose. Constraints design and restraints define. – Dan T. Rogers – https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dantrogers_constraint-and-restraint-constraints-are-activity-7274499458699038720-RbBN
You get the idea.
Constraints are the answer to our lack of restraint.
We only need constraints when we lack restraint. Constraints limit our freedom, in ways both good and bad, and enforcing constraints requires that they be universally applicable (which they rarely are). Enforcing restraint, on the other hand, requires that we apply wisdom, which allows us to treat every situation and person as the individual and unique things and people that they truly are. Restraint can be just in ways that constraint cannot. Restraint brings freedom, at least in the form of “freedom for,” while constraint impinges on “freedom from” and sometimes even on “freedom for.”
https://stumblingthroughtheology.wordpress.com/2014/05/25/restraint-constraint-and-true-freedom/