Most of us, if we haven’t done so already, will be setting goals for 2020. They may be personal goals, professional goals, business goals, ministry goals, family goals, or spiritual goals. Some of us will have multiple goals. Hopefully the goals we set are realistic and achievable, and set after much consideration and prayer. I’m sure that we have already or will ask God to bless our goals. There are a couple of things that we we do know that God will bless. He will bless goals that honor Him and He will bless goals that are motivated by love (agape, the God kind of love).
Two Questions to Ask of Your Goals
It’s important to set goals. But not every goal that you can set is a good goal that God’s going to bless.
So how do you know the kind of goal that God will bless? Ask yourself these questions:
1. “Will my goal honor God?”
What kind of goal brings glory to God? Any goal that causes you to trust him more, to depend on him more, to love him more, to love other people more, to serve him, to serve others, to be more unselfish.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “When you eat or drink or do anything else, always do it to honor God” (CEV). Everything can be done to honor God. You can honor God by taking out the trash. You can honor God by washing the dishes. You can honor God by doing that mundane task at work. How? By doing it with the right motive: gratitude. If you want your life to bring honor to God, set goals that help you be the best you can be for God’s glory.
2. “Is my goal motivated by love?”
God is not going to bless a goal motivated by greed, envy, guilt, fear, or pride. But he does honor a goal that is motivated by a desire to demonstrate love to him and to others, because life is all about learning how to love.
Why is it important to have goals based on love? Because if you set loveless goals, you’re going to treat people as projects. You’re going to run all over them to reach your goal. You’re going to run over your spouse, your family members, our friends, and other people as you climb up the ladder of success. God says, “No. You’ve got it all wrong. It’s not about accomplishments. It’s about relationships. It’s about learning how to love.”
“Do everything in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14 NIV). Your number one goal in life should be to learn how to really love your family, your neighbors, and even those who are hard to love. That makes you more like God, because God is love.
Pray before you set your goals for 2020, Pray as you set your goals for 2019. Pray after you set your goals for 2020. Pray during 2019 as you pursue your goals. Pray and thank God as you reach every milestone of your goals in 2020. Pray, praise and thank God when you accomplish each goal for 2020.
For those goals you don’t accomplish in 2020 don’t feel that you failed but thank God for the opportunity to work toward the accomplishment and thank him for all the progress you made. If the Holy Spirit encourages to set the same goal for 2021 pray and start all over again.
Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty, and the most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever. - Jonathon Edwards from The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathon Edwards by Steven Lawson.
Happy New Year!!!
Some content from the Rick Warren devotional “Two Questions to ask of Your Goals”