This week we conclude our Fresh Start series with goal setting.
At the beginning of each year, people make resolutions to eat better or exercise more, and within several weeks (or days), they have broken their resolutions.
Michael Hyatt advocates that resolutions do not work while establishing goals allow you to succeed even when you mess up.
For seven seasons, I coached high school cross country (mostly girls cross country). During that stretch, we celebrated several league titles and division appearances.
Each year, we would sit down in a classroom and write out our goals for the season – both personally and as a team.
In addition to the goals, we would have a verse of the year that would help us focus on the why behind our goals.
One year it was Philippians 3:13–14,
”Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Goals are important for helping us achieve our best, but as believers, we have another secret weapon we can use, and that’s prayer.
When we add prayer to our goals, we ask God to be a part of our success. As a coach, my role was to see the big picture (strategy and execution) and help guide the team to success.
When we set our goals for the year, we wanted to win a league title that had not been done in seven years.
It seemed daunting, but we trained with the goal in mind. When we lost to our rival one week before the league championship, I reminded them that was not our goal.
We wanted to beat our rival in the dual meet, but the greater goal was the league title. By focusing on the goal, we could ride out the little bumps along the way.
A year ago, I came across a movie titled Remember the Goal. It was about a high school cross country coach that trained her team unconventionally. Along the way, she shared stories from the Bible, taught them to love others like Jesus, and helped restore family relationships.
In this movie, their team verse was 1 Corinthians 10:31, which says,
”So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Our mindset should be the same as that of 1 Corinthians 10:31, whatever we do, do it all for the glory of God.
If you are launching a new product, do it for the glory of God.
If you are teaching on Zoom, do it for the glory of God.
If you are working in the corporate workplace, do it for the glory of God.
Our goals should be no different; we should go after our goals with tenacity, perseverance, and with God as the foundation.
How do we make God central to our most important goals?
Application
The one thing we must understand is that it is never too late to develop goals. If you blew your new year’s resolutions out of the water, reframe them as goals.
Here’s how you can create your most important goals and make God central to them.
- Write them down – move them from your head to a piece of paper (digital or analog).
- Pray over your goals – ask God if these are the goals you should be tackling right now and listen to His response.
- Go after your goals – once you have established your goals, make them visible, pray over them daily or weekly, and then go after them.
Goals are meant to be achieved. When you complete a goal – celebrate and thank God for helping you achieve it and then move on to the next one.
God wants us to do our best and achieve great things. He also has planted them in our hearts. I guarantee you – achieving your goals will not be a cakewalk, but it will be rewarding.
And, to keep it real, you may not achieve them. When we ask God to go before us and our goals, we ask Him for His guidance and blessing in our pursuit.
As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31,
”So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
If you have not adopted a verse for the year, consider 1 Corinthians 10:31.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for the lesson from 1 Corinthians 10:31 to do everything for the glory of God. Please help us to live this verse out each day this year. I ask that you help us achieve the goals we have established this year and be open to Your leading in our lives. Amen!
Resources
- Fresh Start One Year Bible Reading Plan
- Fresh Start Devotional Plan
- Bible In One Year – 2021 Plan
- Remember the Goal (movie)
- The Perfect Race (movie)
- Your Best Year Ever – Michael Hyatt (book)
- Best Year Ever (course)
- Full Focus Planner
Listen On…
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