Goal-Setting

Recently, we had a ladies' night for our church Sunday School class and discussed making goals and resolutions. I found some Bible verses to support why we make goals and some of the types of goals we can make. I thought they were worth sharing here.

Why make goals?

• You have to know where you are going to help you get there and avoid roadblocks and wrong turns.
•  Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We all have room to improve.)
• Proverbs 28:13 – He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (We should work to get rid of our sins.)
• Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. (This is what we should be focusing on.)
• Colossians 1:10 - And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, (Goals can help us focus on ways to please the Lord. We can set goals to help us bear fruit in good works and to grow in the knowledge of God.)
• If you fail to make a plan, you make a plan to fail.
• God sets goals and has a plan
• Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
• Matthew 28:19-20 - Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

What kind of goals?

• Spiritual
• God and His Kingdom first. Matthew 6:33 - But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
• Eternal over temporal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 - So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
• Spiritual over physical. Matthew 6:19-21 - “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
• People over things. Mark 8:36-38 - What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
• Romans 8:29 - For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (NLT) 
• 2 Peter 3:18 - But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.    
• Health
• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
• Romans 12:1 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 
• We need our health to effectively work for God.
• Family
• Matthew 22:37-40 - Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Love God and love people. Relationships matter to God.)
• Genesis 2:18 - The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Again, relationships are important to God.)
• Proverbs 22:6 - Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
• Deuteronomy 6:5-9 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.  
•  Esther 1:22 - He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, proclaiming in each people's tongue that every man should be ruler over his own household.
• Proverbs 5:15-19 - Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer - may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.
• More verses that can pertain to marriage and family: Proverbs 12:4, Proverbs 15:1, Proverbs 15:18, Proverbs 15:23, Proverbs 17:1, Proverbs 18:22, Proverbs 19:13, Proverbs 19:14, Proverbs 21:9, Proverbs 21:19, Proverbs 25:24, Proverbs 27:15-16.
• Financial
•  We are called to be good stewards of everything God gives us. 
• Luke 6:38 - Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
• Matthew 10:8b - Freely you have received, freely give.
• Deuteronomy 16:17 - Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.  
• 2 Corinthians 9:7 - Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 
• Home
• Our homes, also, are a gift from God that can be used for His glory. We can use our homes to welcome guests and build relationships that draw others closer to Him. We need to be good stewards with our homes. (See verses above under Financial.)
• Work/Education
• Colossians 3:23-24 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
• Proverbs 12:14b – the work of a man’s hand comes back to him
• Proverbs 18:19 – Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.
• Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 - There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?   
• Hobbies
• God created us to need rest. Sometimes we need to take a break to rejuvenate our mind, body and spirit. Also, a hobby can be profitable as a way to reach out to others in the name of Christ - by providing services to others or forming relationships with others with common interests.
• Genesis 2:2-3 - By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
• Exodus 23:12 - "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.
• Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 - There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
• Mark 6:31 - Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."   

How to write goals?

• S = Specific (Ex: not just "lose weight" but "lose 20 pounds")
• M = Measurable (Ex: Resolving to lose 20 pounds is measurable because you'll be able to track your progress and know when you meet your goal.)
• A = Attainable (Ex: "Saving $50,000 for retirement" may be attainable to some, but not most of us.)
• R = Realistic (Ex: I would love to say I'm going to exercise at least a little - some toning and/or aerobic - every single day, but I know I won't, so I set a goal for 4 out of 7 days a week.)
• T = Timely (Ex: Don't set a goal that you know you can accomplish next week, nor one that you know will take ten years.)

And to end, a few verses for encouragement:

• Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
• Philippians 4:13 - I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
• Philippians 2:13 - for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.  

Consider making a goal you can’t do on your own, without God revealing His power. What a testimony that would be, wouldn't it?