In last week’s blog post, I shared some simple tips for saying no (you can read it here, if you haven’t already). Saying no can be difficult, but I believe it’s an important skill to learn. If you never learn to say no, you’re going to burn yourself out pretty quickly.

But as I was posting about learning to say no, I couldn’t help but think that it’s just as important to learn how to say yes. And it’s just as important to talk about how sweet it is to say yes.

In the context of rest and self-care and all these other hot topics in today’s culture, we always want to talk about when and how to say no. I liked writing about it last week. It’s fun to talk about because it gives us a feeling of liberation and invites the possibility of rest. But we don’t spend much time talking about when to say yes.

So that’s what I’m going to focus on this week. Because in the midst of all this talk about setting boundaries and saying no, I don’t want us to lose out on the beauty of saying yes.

And the truth is, this post on saying yes is even simpler than last week’s post on saying no. As it turns out, Jesus loves when we open up our lives and our hearts to people. He loves it when we serve. The reasons behind yes are fairly straightforward.

So friends… here’s why we say yes.

1. We say yes because freedom is found in serving others with love.

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” Galatians 5:13

It’s pretty simple. We say yes because we are called to serve others. But serving others in love is not only a calling—it’s a source of freedom. It connects us with who we were designed to be.

2. We say yes as a form of worship.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Romans 12:1

When we say yes to opportunities we feel like God has placed in front of us, we are showing Him we love Him and are attentive to what the Holy Spirit is speaking over our lives. We are presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice before Him. We are worshipping Him.

3. We say yes in order to steward the gifts God has given us.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10

God has given each of us beautiful, unique gifts that we can use to serve Him. If we never say yes, we’re keeping those gifts to ourselves and that’s not an example of good stewardship. But when we share our gifts with others through the word “yes,” we are, as Peter wrote, faithful stewards of God’s grace.

4. We say yes because Jesus’s idea of love is pretty radical.

“Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” Matthew 5:42

Jesus’s idea of love is crazy according to this world’s standards. He tells us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek and pray for those who are unkind to us. He tells us to give to the one who asks us—even if they don’t necessarily ask in the nicest way. Often times, saying yes is a way to love someone, perhaps even in the radical way that Jesus describes.

5. We say yes because Jesus said the biggest yes for us.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13

Jesus said the biggest yes for us when he said yes to death on a cross. He said the biggest yes when he suffered for our sins and our brokenness, when he took the punishment we deserved. Jesus’s biggest yes revealed the greatest love the world will ever know.

In the end, we say yes because Jesus said yes first—and we follow him.

By the way, never forget… you are onederfully created.

Love,
Becca