Attention People Pleasers: You Can't Really Avoid Saying "No" and Here's Why

Thought:  Just because you can doesn't mean you must.

In other words, your ability to do what someone asks of you doesn't mean that you must do it.  Frequently, especially during the busy Christmas season, these requests come at the most inconvenient of times.  Yet, how many of you (or someone you dearly love) do it anyway?

Here's a difficult truth:  When you can't say "No" to others you indirectly say, "No" to . . . 

Yourself

You say "No" to a full night's sleep
You say "No" to any discretionary time you may have had

Your Immediate Family

Who do you think, besides yourself, gets the short end of the stick when you rob your margin by saying "Yes" to those to whom you should say "No"?

Challenge:

This Christmas say "No" to someone to whom you could say "Yes."

This is especially true for those of you who have a Christmas season (like every other Christmas season for as long as you can remember), full of doing for others.  Come on, you can do it!

One of two things will happen if you do this:

1) the person who asks you will find someone else to help (psst, over here . . . you aren't the only one who can do this)

2) they will do it for themselves and perhaps grow thereby.

You don't have the time

Admit it.  Let them deal with it and move on.

Your family and perhaps you, when you're done with your false guilt, will thank you.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.  Taking to heart what I just told you may be the best Christmas present you give to them and receive for yourself.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Call to be a Ragamuffin: A Review of the Movie on Rich Mullins' Life

Image
I thought this film was absolutely great.  The acting was good and the story was real.  Shocked and saddened at the ghosts of Rich's childhood, if I may use that terminology, I was drawn into the healthy and unhealthy ways he struggled with his raising.   Like the Bible does with its heroes, Ragamuffin doesn't sugarcoat Rich's life.  He struggled with smoking and with alcohol.  His language wasn't always church language, to put it mildly.  One sees someone seeking to be real.  Tired of the masks Christians often put on and the blindness to the call of Christ to provide for the least of these, Rich gives generously to Christian churches and charities while living humbly.  Seeing the poverty of others and the difference he could make in the lives of those with less, Rich Mullins pours himself wholly into ministry.   Just a few other thoughts in closing.  His tragic death is handled well.  In  the special features section, Dav e, Rich's brother, does a
Read more

What's In a Name?

Image
What’s in a Name?  In 1990, I graduated from Philadelphia College of Bible.  Over the years, PCB changed and with it, its name altered as well.  After achieving university status under President Babb, a new name was chosen, Philadelphia Biblical University, one that does not easily roll off the tongue.  Eventually, students, alumni, the community, etc., got used to it like will eventually happen with the new name change.  However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t reasons to wrestle with the proposal.   The rationale for the name change Dr. Williams, current president of PBU, argues that there is a perception of PBU being a Bible college with “university” in its name, leading people to believe that it has “limited offerings and a narrow vocational focus.”  My thought:  The word narrow sounds familiar to me.   Matthew 7:13-14 Furthermore, market research conducted via focus groups and a survey yielded data that was considered in favor of a name change in gene
Read more

Reproducible Pastoral Training - A Book Review

Image
Reproducible Pastoral Training: Church Planting Guidelines from the Teachings of George Patterson by Patrick O’Connor is a book about missions. However, its insights are also helpful to anyone who is either starting a church or seeking to see it grow. Patrick O’Connor dives into the wisdom of George Patterson and presents it in an intelligent way. Various topics are explained in the text. How does one reach a culture with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? What is better, door-to-door evangelism or another technique? Is it best to begin with a multi-cultural church or to start with one culture? How does one utilize contacts for the sake of the Gospel? Also, how does one prevent establishing a foreign church rather than a native one? Furthermore, the author goes into issues like how leaders are trained and when they should begin serving. I found myself revisiting preconceived notions of what is done in Western churches and thus is considered to be biblical. For instance, the d
Read more