Topic: If You Want to Grow, Sometimes You Have to Say ‘No’ [RICK WARREN Devotional 3 November   2023]

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If You Want to Grow, Sometimes You Have to Say ‘No’

BY RICK WARREN — NOVEMBER 3, 2023
FROM HOW GOD TURNS SETBACKS INTO COMEBACK

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)

The most important word to remember for your spiritual journey may be a surprising one: “no.”

Your faith journey is a long one. Too many people start off strong but putter out before the end. God wants you to go the distance.

Your spiritual life is like a marathon—and you can’t run a marathon with a barbell in your hands. In fact, people often quit their faith journey early because everything they’re carrying wears them out.

So, to run your spiritual race well, you need to de-clutter.

Consider these images:

In the middle of the ocean, a cruise liner can get pretty fast. But if you add a hundred lifeboats to it, it’ll slow down.

Plug a battery into one lightbulb, and it’ll last a long time. Plug it into 15, and it drains quickly. Plug it into 100, and it’ll drain even more quickly.

That’s what happens to you when you try to do too much. You need to learn to say “no” to some things that are good because they keep you from doing your best.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us strip off every weight that slows us down” (NLT).

These weights aren’t bad or sinful. They’re just unnecessary. A weight in your life could be a job, a relationship, or a hobby. It’s something that slows you down from what God wants to do in your life. And it’s not worth it.

Also Read: Open Heaven 3 November  2023 – PRAYER FOR THE YOUTHS 

Consider what weights are slowing you down—and start stripping them off today!

Talk It Over

• What are the weights that are slowing you down? What are the good things you’re doing that might keep you from the best God has for you?
• Why do you think we feel so pressured to say “yes” to everything that comes our way?
• Try saying “no” to one thing this week that you would normally agree to. What difference do you think it will make?

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