The Best Yes is a book by Lysa Terkeurst that urges its reader to stop seeking to please people and stop saying yes to every request. This book fits under the category of Christian living and is pretty useful as a tool to say no, especially for those who have come to believe that a good person never says no, even at the cost of their own mental, emotional or physical health.
Stars: 4/5
Terkeurst is a Christian author and she typically focuses her books on women. However, I think that may be her downfall here. She is writing specifically for women when the truth is men seek to please people as well. Moreover, much of what she writes comes from the viewpoint of a married woman and/or mother. And while that is her lived experience, it often appears as though she is writing only for such women and all others are left on the margins of the narrative.
The premise of this book is to inspire people to break the mindset of always being busy, or feeling as though you have to say "yes" to every decision in order to be Christian. The author also reminds the reader of the many scriptures that warn us against rushing as well as those that remind us our primary focus should be God. The author states that when we are too busy, we often push God to the side, whether or not we realize it. She also discusses what she calls the "best yes" and notes that sometimes you have to say no to one or many things in order to give your best yes to something more meaningful or more important. Telling someone "no" does not mean you love them less, but it means that you want to give your best to what you do and that means you can't be pulled in one hundred directions at a time. As Terkeurst always does, she gives many reali life examples to help illustrate her point, some of which from her own life.
Would I recommend this book? Potentially. It is definitely a helpful tool, but I think that there are some parts of it that may not be as helpful as the author intended or may not be of use to all readers.