With the start of a new year, most people start thinking about their new year resolutions and goals. They usually include the standard goals of losing weight, eating healthier, education, etc. But these are earthly goals! More often than not, our goals for the new year don’t include anything in the way of setting spiritual goals!
Spiritual goals are the objectives we set for ourselves to get closer to God. These help us to grow and mature spiritually and build a better relationship with God and our fellows.
Setting spiritual goals creates a path to success for a new year – because anything that begins with God, will always end with success! A failure to set spiritual goals can be detrimental and can lead to slow progress in one’s spiritual growth. Charles Finney once asserted that the lack of spiritual growth in some Christians is due to a failure in setting spiritual goals. Remember, progress without a plan is nearly impossible, so spiritual growth without a plan will be nearly impossible.
Steps in setting your Spiritual Goals
- Spiritual Goal-setting starts with prayer
“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.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
The Lord wants only the best for us, but oftentimes, we only seek his help when our plans go sideways. Spend some time in deep prayer and meditation, pouring out your heart to God and asking him to show you the way he has planned for you. In prayer, express your concerns and your struggles, asking him to give you the wisdom to know what to do. When you have set your goals, commit them to the Lord in prayer and according to Proverbs 16:3, he will establish your plans!
- Evaluate Your Year
There’s a famous saying that goes: you cannot change the past but you can learn from it. Indeed, the greatest lessons we can ever learn are from our experiences. Think about your goals last year. Which of them have you achieved? Which of them proved too much? Where do you think you went wrong? Asking yourself these questions can help you formulate a better plan for the year ahead.
- Envision Your Goals
Picture yourself a year from now. What’s your spiritual life like?
Creating a vision of your goals will help you break it down into smaller actionable plans. Imagine the things you want to achieve. If it helps, list it all down on paper. Then create a vision book – whatever it is that can help you envision your spiritual objectives.
- Keep It Real
Having goals is good. But having too many goals can be exhausting. In life and goal-setting, one thing is consistently true: never bite off more than you can chew. Instead of achieving your objectives, you might end up too stressed and frustrated. It can lead you to lose your drive and give up even before you realize your goals. So keep it real. Make sure that your goals are possible and attainable. Start with the basics. Avoid aiming for things that you know you can never do.
- Don’t Be Too Hard on Yourself
If you fail to achieve a goal, don’t be disheartened. More importantly, don’t punish yourself for the things you weren’t able to do. Just keep on trying. God sees your struggles and pains. He will never forsake you. Pray for fortitude and the strength to keep moving forward.
Spiritual Goals Example
Here are some samples of spiritual goals you can set for 2020:
- Read the entire bible. Allocate a few minutes each day to read several verses in the bible. With 365 days in a year, reading the entire bible is certainly doable.
- Actively take part in church services. Attending it is not enough. We should work to cultivate a heart that truly desires to serve those around us (Matthew 20:26-2.)
- Make daily prayer a habit. Spend time each day in communion with The Lord. You can do it every morning upon waking up, during the day as you go about your business, and before you go to bed. Over time, it will develop into a habit (Luke 18:1).
- Read encouraging books that will build your spiritual life. Aside from the bible, inspirational books are a great way to attain spiritual fulfilment. Set a target of how many books to read per month (2 Timothy 2:15).
- Give back. Doing charity should not only be confined to Christmas and Thanksgiving. Giving back should be done all year round. Strive to be a blessing to others every single day. You can start by volunteering at the local charity shop, give away your old clothes to the poor, giving an offering at your local church.
May God establish all your plans!
