The Blessing of Saying No

Oscar Wilde said, “I can resist everything except temptation.”

When I go out to eat, I always say no to dessert. But when the server asks if we want dessert, my wife will say, “What do you have?” Then she tells me we’ll have “just one bite.” And I remind her that’s what Eve said to Adam.

So when they bring out the dessert with more than one fork, I know that if I take even a little taste, that is where the problem begins. If I don’t have a taste of it, then it’s a non-issue. But the moment I taste it, it’s game over. I’ve engaged. You know how that goes.

That’s the problem with temptation. It’s so tempting. The devil knows how to package his wares. He knows how to make bad things look good and how to make good things look bad. That’s why temptation is so strong when it strikes. We feel the pressure.

The good news is that God, according to 1 Corinthians 10:13, “will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure” (NLT).

We’ve all been tempted, not only by dessert but by serious things—by sinful things. It might be a temptation to be lustful. A temptation to be prideful. A temptation to be hateful. Whatever it is, what a great thing when we pass the test, when we say no to it.

When you’re saying no to temptation, it isn’t easy, is it? But then the blessing follows. If we want to be world changers, then we need to learn how to refuse certain things. We need to learn how to say yes to God and how to say no to the devil.