The Power of Saying 'No'

We all love to say yes all the time. Yes to going out, sleeping, talking, etc. But find it difficult to utter the brutal word 'No'. 'Yes' sounds more like a happy word whilst 'No' sounds bad.


However, 'No' is that one word that ends an endless conversation, and prevents you from being stuck in a ditch or doing something you did not plan to do in the first place.


So, is 'No' terrifying? And why?


From the ground of a person who suffered from severe people-pleasing- 'No' is one word that was exempt from my dictionary.


It used to be a scary word for me because I feared displeasing people; mind you, it was more than an unconscious habit than it was a conscious one.


I mean, saying no saves you a lot. It saves you time and energy. Most importantly, it is the power that delivers you from being a people pleaser to pleasing God alone.



Saying 'No' is usually difficult compared with saying 'Yes' but it is mind-blowingingly vital.


Here's an Instance:


Felly likes a male friend of hers but doesn't desire to be in a romantic relationship with him. Nonetheless, Felly accepts the proposal of her male friend and two other male friends because Felly is afraid to say 'no' to any of their proposals.


Now, Felly is stuck in a trilemma where she appears as an unfaithful partner to all the guys she had accepted their proposals.


Before you come at Felly, what was the reason behind her actions and did she not foresee what was going to happen?


At the moment of the situation, Felly wasn't thinking about what would be the consequence of my action or will I be able to keep up, can I do it or not?


Felly was straight up thinking; well, I'll find a way to make it work. And just like Felly, we all overburden ourselves by finding a way to make people's requests fit into our tight schedules, instead of saying 'No' when we know we couldn't do it.



Unless you have suffered from this or still suffering from this, you cannot understand.

There's just this uncomfortable feeling of; what will the person whom I am displeasing think or say…I'll try to make it work anyway–and goes on to say yes or fix an unrealistic date and time to fulfill the task. 


It's still a struggle between the yes and no, but making tiny efforts to become 1% better at displeasing yourself even, by saying 'No' to please God is super satisfying and worth it.


Don't beat yourself up for saying 'Yes' a gazillion times. But make step-up changes today by being okay with saying 'No' to people, temptations, and even your fleshly desires–you may not get it all right every time. But, it's good that you at least try.




“...' No' is the Power that makes you a God Pleaser and not a People-pleaser.” Note that.


Just say a simple, 'Yes, I will,' or 'No, I won't.' Your word is enough. To strengthen your promise with a vow shows that something is wrong. 


Matthew-5:37 


M. E Ojukwu. Little Pieces

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