Goal Setting

I’m not an administrative person.  One thing you need to know about guys like me who are not administrative; we don’t like lists.  My wife on the other hand; she’s a list person.  She has a list for almost every area of her life and I would not be surprised if she had a list of her lists somewhere.  She’s is administrative.  It’s a gift she has learned how to use very well.  Me, I’ve learned to trust her lists.

On the other side however, I have found the need for lists.  As someone that doesn’t come by this gift naturally, I have to make myself think administratively.  I have to make myself begin each day with a list of things to do, then I go back over that list and prioritize them.  For me the going back over them is important because if I didn’t then my day would start off with (1.) Go to lunch, (2.) Read, (3.) Get afternoon snack and drink, (4.) Go get candy out of Scott’s office.

It doesn’t seem wise to me to start my day with lunch, so I have to prioritize.  (I know many of you are asking, “He puts lunch and snacks on his to do list each day?”  Yes!  I do!)  Prioritizing my day allows me to be effective.  If I don’t, things get out of sync and I am not as productive as I could have been.  As a result, I go home feeling like I failed or didn’t get anything accomplished.  While I don’t always like lists, I have learned the benefits of them.

The other type of list I have found a great benefit for is in goal setting.  I routinely set six month goals in two categories, work and personal.  While there are great benefits in setting work goals, I really want to challenge you today to set personal goals.  Not just any type of random personal though, I want you to begin thinking about personal goals that will strengthen your relationship with God.  If you are not in the habit of working toward goals, I would not advise you to set six month goals.  Instead start with a 30-day or 60-day goal.

One of the first things you need to do in setting this goal is to ask yourself, “What’s my purpose of setting this goal?”  Are you wanting to strengthen your knowledge of the Bible?  Do you want to strengthen your faith?  Do you want to become more bold in your faith?  It’s important to set the purpose because then you have built in motivation.  And goals are important because if you don’t have a plan to strengthen your faith, how do expect it to grow?  You must be intentional about your process of growth.

For example, if your goal is to strengthen your knowledge of the Bible; pick a chapter and spend the summer studying that passage.  Read it at least once a week in entirety.  Read several verses or sections of it every day.  Try to memorize the chapter.  Break it into different categories you set up.  Use commentaries from to learn more about.  Find a good resource and look at the original language.  (A good online resource with commentaries and helpful in understanding original language is www.blueletterbible.org.)

It is important to have a goal.  Here is the one thing I am positive of; if you don’t have a plan; you have a real good possibility of being in the exact same place with your relationship in 60 days as you are now.  As a believer, you can’t be satisfied with that!

Be blessed,

craig