Crayons For Jesus


Setting Resolutions Print E-mail
By Rebeckah Reader   
With the New Year upon us, the time has come when many people start thinking of the changes they would like to make during the coming year. Using the biblical principles outlined below you can set and achieve goals ranging from something as simple as learning a new hobby to something as complicated as growing closer to God.

1. Seek Him

Proverbs 16:3 tells us to “commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” With every goal that we have we should seek the Lord for guidance on defining, planning, and achieving our goals. He cares about the patterns we want to change and the new things we want to begin. He wants to guide us into victory regardless of what the goal is. It may not make sense that God would care about you taking up knitting or starting a new fitness regime, but God loves and wants to be a part of even the smallest parts of your life.

Along with this bible, Matthew 6:33 instructs us to “seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.” This bible instructs us to seek out first the goals that God would want us to meet. Think about what changes would please God. Allow Him to help you prioritize what is most important. Obviously, setting a goal to study His word and to know Him better would be more important than finally beating Super Mario Brothers 3. If we focus on doing that which God would want first, the other things will fall into place.

2. Know Your Goal

While each New Year brings new excitement, don’t let your excitement prevent you from being wise in setting goals.

Setting realistic goals means understanding your own limitations and working with your strengths to eradicate what is blocking success. In order for a goal to be attainable, it must be defined, it must be appropriate and it must be quantifiable. It must also leave room for further growth.

Knowing more about the Bible is too broad of a goal. Further define what that means to you. Does it mean simply reading through the entire Bible or does it mean focusing on a specific topic or story? Could it also mean simply learning more of the scriptures by heart? Properly define the goal before you move onto any other step.

Don’t take on more than you could possibly do. If you struggle with memorizing scripture it would not be wise to set a goal of memorizing an entire book of the Bible.

A goal should be measureable in both extreme and length. A goal should also be something that you yourself can control. For example, setting the goal of memorizing a new bible bible each month is more appropriate for just beginning. It is also something that you can control.

This also provides a way to measure the success – if your goal is one bible a month then your goal for the entire year is to memorize 12 total bibles.

Create goals that you can build on each year. Perhaps the next year instead of doing just one bible each month you could set the goal of one each week. Eventually you could work to a goal of memorizing a chapter and then an entire book of the Bible.

If we are faithful in our work, God will entrust us with more. If we trust Him and follow Him to success in one thing, we will be rewarded like the good servants in Matthew 25:14-30 .

3. Build Steps to Success

If your goal is a really big one, break it down into smaller portions. Take the lofty yearlong goal and break it down into smaller portions – by month, by week, even by day! Use these smaller steps as check-in points to measure your success.

Think about how you can accomplish the goal once you have properly defined and evaluated the appropriateness of it. If your goal is to know God more build the steps to reach this into your goal.

For example, add “by spending time praying for 15 minutes before the day begins and 15 minutes at its end”. Brainstorm other steps you can take to reach this goal like, “attend church at least 2 of the 4 weeks”, “join a Bible study”, or “begin writing down questions I bring before God and the answers He gives me”.

You can allow God to direct you to success. Ask Him how to accomplish the goal, and He will direct you.

Define what success means to you and use it to define the steps you will take to reach that success.

4. Find Accountability

Proverbs 27:17 tells us that as “iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

Allow another Christian to evaluate your goals and your steps to success. If you can open yourself to their honesty then you will open yourself to further growth. Get multiple opinions from multiple wise and stable Christians.

They can validate what you have set and agree before God with you. They can join with you and invite God into your life with each goal Matthew 18:20 .

If your goal is not appropriate, someone else’s perspective can redirect you in love and help you to better define success and therefore better achieve that success.

Practice discipline. Allow this person to act as someone to keep you accountable. Use them as a resource to encourage you when you are down and to celebrate with you as you move toward success. Also allow yourself to be used to encourage and redirect them on their own journey. This is truly a showing of the church, especially when the goal is to become more like Christ.

Remember also that Christ is praying for your success John 17:9 . He wants for you to have good things because He loves youJames 1:17 !

5. Evaluate Results

Set-up check-in dates along with your mini-goals/steps to success. Evaluate if the plan you have set-up has been working. If your plan has not been working, then reevaluate your steps and regroup. Do not lose heart Luke 18:1 ! Have patience with yourself and use your Christian resources to press on.

If the plan has been working, then celebrate and continue onward toward the prize Philippians 3:14-16 !

Do not lose heart, remember “nothing is impossible with God” Luke 1:37 !

There is a reward for all of the work that leads to you becoming a better instrument and testament of Christ Jeremiah 31:16 .

May God help you meet all of your goals, particularly the ones that will lead you coming to know the full richness of the mercy of God and the power of your identity because of Christ’s great love.