Before anyone thinks I've turned into a complete lunatic for making such a shocking statement, take a minute to open up your mind to what I'm about to present to you. It's good stuff, I promise.

Say yes to drugs. It's just a little high. The 'one-time' bull that we tell ourselves never works out. Addiction comes next. Can't stop, need it to eat, need it to survive, need it to function completely. It eventually runs your whole life and ruins it, too. It destroys families and relationships and lifestyles. It changes who you are inside and out. I assume that's all well-known information, though. We all know the damage it causes, but it's worth having a little fun. So, yeah, say yes to drugs. Consciously ruin your life. It's just a little high.

Say yes to sex. It's just in the heat of the moment. Marriage is such a big word, far away too. It's not like it means anything. Different partners come and go. It's only part of a relationship. Sometimes, you don't even have to be dating. It can only harm your future greatly. Pregnancy, STDs, and having to tell the love of your life one day that you can't give all of yourself to them doesn't seem all that bad I suppose. So, yeah, say yes to sex. Take the risk. It's just in the heat of the moment.

Say yes to more alcohol. It's just to relax. Have a little more than you can handle. Get behind the wheel of a car drunk. It merely affects your life and many, many others. Call it an accident. Maybe you didn't mean to have too many, it was just a hard week. Even though you know better than to drink another, you didn't mean to. You know the dangers of driving drunk, but who could blame you since that's exactly what you were? You would never allow yourself to do that if you were in your right mind. But, it was a hard week. So, yeah, say yes to more alcohol. Take another sip. It's just to relax.

There are a million more temptations that we face as young people. I could go on and on, but I feel I have made my point clear enough with these main three. In case my sarcasm wasn't as obvious as I'd liked, I'm not in any way, shape or form condoning these. What I want us all to realize is that we are taught all our lives of the dangers that come with bad choices. We know what damage they cause. But, we decide that having fun is worth risking our futures. It sounds so ridiculous to tell someone to say yes to any of those things. I'm very well sure your first reaction was to get mad. Why is that? We say yes to these things every day. We don't verbalize an actual answer but our actions speak for us. Bad choices are all around us and we give in. It's almost like we think bad choices are the new good. Let's at least be honest with ourselves. We all say yes to something. We all have our sins. But we have a God who will always provide us with a way out. The first step to saying no to temptation is to admit that you are saying yes right now. God already knows, tell Him and tell yourself. Our God is bigger than any problem we face. And how AMAZING is it that He forgives us for all of our wrongs. Stop letting your yes's to temptations run your life. Say yes to God and let Him run your life. His plan for you will far exceed that of drugs, sex, alcohol, etc. He loves you. Breathe, say no to temptation, say yes to God. You don't have to be chained to the world. We know the One who can break them. What an awesome God we serve.