How to Set Goals as a Christian | EP 87

Today, we discuss Setting Goals as a Christian. Is it even biblical? Is it good to set expectations on what we don't know? All of this and more on the Faith, Family & Focus Show.

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Transcript

How can we as Christians, how can we set goals? Now, I don't know about you, but for me, I love setting goals. I love charting the course ahead. As I said earlier, the holidays are a really good time to look back on the past year and to say, okay, this is what God brought us through. This is what we got through. And how do we chart the course ahead? I love sitting down, being reflective, writing down. I take a journal. I've got a journal where I write things down. I do all kinds of stuff on that. And I just, I really, I love looking ahead and saying, okay, Lord, how can I improve? How can I improve? My pastor is much like this. I was privileged to be his assistant for almost five years. And he is much like that where he is, he's like, okay, I like getting back to my normal, but I like charting the course ahead. And maybe you're like me, but maybe you're out there and you're listening, you're watching this and you're saying, I don't really I have a hard time setting goals as a Christian, yes, but just in general. Like I have a hard time just charting the course ahead. I don't know what's ahead. So how can I, how can I, you know, set goals when I don't know the future? That's a question that a lot of people have. And so we're going to talk a little bit about that. I'm going to give you some practical helps of how to set goals in just a minute. Some things that have really helped me, especially this new year, trying to set new year's resolutions, trying to conquer some goals, trying to figure out what the course ahead is. I'm going to give you some practical helps in just a minute. But first, I want to take you to the word of God and a passage that always comes to my mind, almost always comes to my mind here during the new year. is Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. We see such a progression. Paul is talking to the church of Philippi and he's saying, listen, there's some things that are in your past, some things that you need to press forward and you need to press toward. You need to forget and you need to move forward. And ultimately, every year, that's kind of the progression. That's kind of the, what we need to do as believers. And let me just challenge you. Whatever you've faced in the past year, understand that God has a way forward. There is a way of escape for you when it comes to temptation, when it comes to trials. God has already made a way for you. And God is already, I sang a song at a church just recently, wherever you are and wherever you're going, God is right there beside you seeing and knowing. Wherever you go, He already knows. what lies ahead and what's behind, because you'll always find that he's never too far from wherever you are. And I love the lyrics of that song because it talks about how, you know, God, Jesus is already in your future. He's already there. He's already paved the way. And so there's nothing that you need to fear as a believer and you need to press forward. And this is what Paul is trying to say to the church at Philippi. Let's look at it. Philippians chapter 3 and verse number. Verse number 12, he says this, not as though I had already attained or have arrived, right? That's a good place to start. Paul's saying, listen, I haven't arrived yet. I haven't gotten to where I want to go in my Christian life. And if you're like me, you say, you know, how many of you would say, I don't know, where to go. And I don't know, I don't have all the answers. I don't even know the future, right? That's me. I don't know the future. I don't have all the answers. That's what Paul's saying. He said, I haven't, I haven't arrived. I haven't attained. Either we're already perfect or that we're spiritually mature. He said, I'm not to the maturity level that I want to be. And if someone like Paul, a Christian like Paul would say, hey, I happen to have it, I don't have it all figured out yet. If he says, I don't have it all figured out yet, then certainly me, like little old me, has not, I don't have it figured out. I don't have all the answers. So that's a great place to start when it comes to setting goals. But he said this, he said, either already perfect or mature, but I follow after that I may apprehend. I may possess that for which also I am apprehended or possessed or attained of Christ Jesus. I love that. He says, hey, I can move forward. I'm not where I want to be, but I can move forward and I can attain. I can be conformed to the image of Christ. Ultimately, that's the goal, right? In every goal that we set, we want it to be pushing us towards the image of Christ. He says, in order to apprehend, I need to realize that I am apprehended of Christ. I am possessed or attained of Christ. I have Jesus. And if I can encourage you with anything in the new year. It's that you have Jesus. As I said earlier, he's in front of you. He's already in your future and he's waiting to guide you. He's a loving father. He's a loving shepherd that's waiting to take your hand and to guide you. And he says that I'm apprehended of Christ. This is my position with Christ. This is my relationship with him. And I can't move forward without him. And I love this in verse 13. He says, Brethren, I count mine myself to have apprehended. Again, he says, I haven't counted myself to have arrived, but this one thing I do. I love that I've got it marked here in my Bible. There's 2 words, one thing. One thing. I think sometimes when it comes to setting goals as believers, we get so focused on all of these things that need to change instead of focusing on one thing. there's power in singleness of mind. There's power in having a single focus on something. My wife, she told me something the other day. She said, how in the world can you sit and you focus for so long a period of time? How can you do that? And I explained to her, I don't know. I guess it's just my personality. I can kind of sit, I can focus in, But I have that ability to be able to really, as people say, lock in, lock in something and stay there. And Paul's saying, listen, lock in. Hey, this one thing I do. If I don't do anything else, if I don't accomplish all my goals, this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth. See how it's a dual action, right? It's A forgetting and a reaching forth. There's going to be a lot of your goal setting. Excuse me, a lot of your goal setting is going to be forgetting and reaching for it. It's going to be dual purpose. And he said, forgetting those things which are behind. And notice, he says forgetting those things which are behind. He doesn't say forgetting the bad things which are behind. He says forgetting those things which are behind. So it's not just forgetting the bad. It is forgetting even the accomplishments. And I think what Paul is trying to say here to the church of Philippi, he's trying to say, listen, you can't live on your past successes. You can't live on the faith of yesterday. And you can't live on, you certainly don't want to live on the failure of yesterday. There's a lot of Christian people whom I know that they fail to serve the Lord in a full and complete way because of failure in the past. And if you let your failure dictate your future, then you're just doomed to repeat history. You're going to repeat failure. And so he says, forgetting those things, the good and the bad. Hey, I can't live on the faith of yesterday. Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are before. He said, I'm reaching. You have the idea of a racer that is bowing his chest out, trying to get those last few inches, right? And it's a neck-and-neck race, and he's trying to get those last few inches, and he's bowing his chest out and trying to be the first one to break that ribbon. That's exactly what Paul is putting into play here. And this is such a athletic term and phrase that he's using here, reaching forth to those things which are before, he says in verse 14, I love this, I press toward the mark. I press. He said, hey, there's going to be some resistance. And let me just challenge you that in the coming year, there's going to be resistance, which by the way, how do you know if you, what you're doing in the new year is going to bring eternal fruit? is because there's resistance. If there is resistance to what you're doing, then take heart, then you're probably doing something right. The devil doesn't care about mediocre Christians. The devil doesn't care about believers who are stuck in their comfort zone. He only cares if you're doing something that is tearing down his kingdom. And so if you're building the kingdom of Christ, if you're sharing the gospel with other people, if you are out ministering, if you are doing what God has called you to do, then the devil takes note of that and there's going to be resistance. And Paul says here, he says, I press toward the mark, right? There is that resistance, but I'm pressing toward the mark. What is the mark though? Is it, you know, to be a better version of himself? Is it to get to ascertain a new level of belief in himself? No. He says, I pressed toward the mark for the prize of what? The high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It's the high calling. It is the calling that God has given me, the purpose in which God has given me to fulfill him. For Paul, it was to reach the Gentiles. It was to bring, present the gospel to the Gentiles using his testimony, using what Jesus did in his life. And so he says, I pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. What is the purpose that God has given you in your life right now? What's the purpose? Why has God put you on this planet? If you can nail that down as to the why, you woke up breathing this morning. Why? If you have the answer to that why, can I just encourage you and challenge you to continue towards that? that high calling. Continue to let God do his work in you and through you. And understand whatever God's called you to do, he's going to enable you to do it. I just spoke with someone who I was actually, I run a small little media and a website, excuse me, website company. And it helps really support our ministry. And I was talking to another minister and they are, they minister to, veterans and to military personnel and to police and fire and EMS really helped them heal spiritually and emotionally, physically. And they really helped them through that journey. And I'm sitting there where we're talking about their branding and all of those different things. And then they give me the news that they just lost their house. And my jaw just dropped. And I'm like, oh, I am so sorry. And I told him, I said, can we just stop everything? Can we just pray right now? And you know, one thing the Holy Spirit put on my heart as I was praying was that there are people on the other side of this trial. There are people on the other side of the trial that you are facing. Their entire house burned on the ground, 100% lost. I said, there are veterans, there are military personnel, there are policemen, retired police officers that need your help. And they are waiting on the other side of this trial, waiting on the other side. They're waiting for you to come through it so that you can minister to them and bring them to Jesus. And the Holy Spirit just just put that on my heart to pray in that way. But I just, afterwards, I just thought, what a powerful thought, that there's people that are waiting on the other side of our obedience and whatever we may face this year. So. Take that to heart and take that as a challenge to what Paul said, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God. Just a few practical tips that will help you as a Christian to set goals. These are things that have helped me tremendously, especially this new year. I'm literally behind my camera. I have three pieces of paper, one for my personal goals, one for our ministry goals, and one for my business that help support our ministries. It's kind of all ministry, but those are kind of the three buckets of my life and personal and ministry and our business. And so I've got these three things posted on the wall. And how do I set those goals? How do I get to where, okay, I've got, I've charted a course forward. I know what. what areas I've lacked. I know where I can go with this. How do I transform that into action? Well, number one, I would say this, super practical is to pray. Okay, that's kind of a duh, right? As a Christian, when it comes to setting goals, you should pray. But pray, how many Christians fail to pray when it comes to setting their goals? Lord, where do I lack? Where do I lack knowledge? Lord, where do I lack obedience? asking the Holy Spirit is essential to moving forward as a believer. If, I mean, understand this, the Holy Spirit sees things about you don't see about you. Like, you know you more than anybody else, but the Holy Spirit knows you more than you know you. So ask the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Lord, what do I need to change? What are some things in my heart and in my life that need to change? And I would say this, when it comes to setting goals as a Christian, not just prayerfully ask the Lord, what are some deficiencies in your line for what are some holes that need to be filled, but prayerfully ask the Lord, Lord, what can I do each day that's going to help me be better in that area? right? What is an action? I literally have with my goals right here behind my camera, I have the goal and then I have a daily action, something literally I do every day and I have a reminder that goes off on my phone, something that I do every single day that's going to help me achieve that goal. And sometimes it's very, it has a metric, right? Sometimes it's doing this, like 5, reach out to five different churches. about our good talk campus outreach or whatever. Maybe it's a number, but then sometimes it's more of a disposition of the heart, right? The goal is more of a... is who you are. I want to be more kind or I want to be more generous, right? And so there's daily actions that I write down to help me achieve being more generous. What does that look like? Lord, what does it mean to be more generous? What does it mean to give? right? And get in God's word and prayerfully ask the Lord. So obviously, as a Christian, if you're going to set goals in the new year, then you need to pray. And then secondly, I mentioned it, but get in God's word, get in God's word. Okay, now that we've kind of figured out what a deficiency is in our own life, we've prayed through things, we reflected on the past year, Lord, what is, how can I get better at this? Get God's heartbeat on it, right? Maybe it's more faith that you need. to live more by faith, or as I said earlier, maybe it's generosity, then dive into God's word. What does God say about being generous? What does a God, Jesus, display in his earthly ministry about generosity? You could do a word study. There's all kinds of devotionals and books that you could read, right? But you're getting in God's word and you're saying, I want to be more of a generous person in this year. I believe Jesus wants me to more be a be more of a generous person this year. So I'm going to dive into his word and find out what is his heart. Because ultimately as a Christian, right, that's the goal, is to learn God's heart so that our heart becomes his heart. Our heart becomes his heart. And so I would say get in God's word. Pray and get in God's word. I would say another one is to set some type of metric with your goal. Set a metric with your goal. don't just say, I want to be generous. That's a good goal, to be more generous. That's great. But set a metric to that. Like really make yourself accountable. I'm going to give spontaneously every week to someone, whatever that is. And however much God puts on my heart, I'm going to give to one person, spontaneously every week, right? There's a little bit more of accountability with that, right? Versus saying, I'm just going to be more generous. You say, I'm going to get to one person generously every week, right? Maybe it's money. Maybe money's the thing that's hard to give away, right? Maybe it's time. Maybe it's something else, but you put a metric to it. You put a number to it. That's what's going to help you to stay accountable. It gives you that self-discipline to when a week has passed and you haven't been generous. You look back and you're like, oh man, I missed. I probably should do 2 this week. And that's two other opportunities for you to be generous. I mean, just think about how that keeps you accountable. And so I would say definitely have like a metric that goes along with that. And then #4, I would say write it down. Write it down. Whatever your goals, we went through this, me and my wife went through this just a few days ago. We wrote everything down. And I've got a really specific formula. I teach this in my little business of F3 design and coaching. I teach this in a program, one-on-one coaching program where I take someone and we say, hey, this is what we do. to set goals and to actually achieve them in the new year. But this little system we were going through, I was going through with my wife the other day, we were just trying to help each other set our goals for the new year. And we literally, what we do is we sit down and we write everything out, right? We write down what our roles are as a son of God, as a husband, as a dad. We write out what all of our roles are, and then we write down what we'd like to see. right? What we'd like to see. And so I would say write it all down. It's really going to help you map out, in the end, map out what you feel like is the direction God wants you to go with your goals. So set a metric to it, prayer, Bible study, of course. Those are foundational things to setting goals, but also set a metric to your goal that helps you keep accountable. And then I would say #4, write it down. Write it all out, scratch it all out, messy. You can make it all neat later. And then #5, I would say this, is to be realistic. Be realistic. Set realistic goals. Don't just say, you know what I'm going to make? I just started a business and I'm going to make $100,000 in the next seven days. Now, if you do, let me know. I would love to chat with you about a great ministry you could support with all that money you're making. But that's just not a realistic goal, right? And so I want to set realistic goals that that are achievable. And if I have a long-term goal, something that I want to accomplish before the end of the year, then I'll put it in bite-size forms, right? I'll make a 30-day goal. So I've boiled it down to something that I can do each and every day. That's going to give you those small amount of wins, and that's going to give you that motivation to move forward. And so those are just five super practical tips. I know I'm terrible at math, but hopefully you understand that, hey, as a believer, if I am going to set goals and I'm going to accomplish those goals, then I've got to be praying. I'm going to be in God's word. I've got to be setting a metric to it, set a number to it so that it keeps me accountable. Writing it all down is going to help me to map it all out. And then obviously going in and saying, all right, Lord, I want to be more like you, right? Because back to our scripture, what we said earlier, right? What did Paul say? He said, this one thing that I do, this one thing, his mind was single. It was focused. It was single. And so if you don't accomplish anything else, you've got all these goals, you've got all these plans and dreams, and you've written them all down. That's great. But if you don't do anything else, remember the goal is to be more like Christ so that you can serve others, you can bring others to Christ. And so there's just some practical ways of setting goals as a believer.