Personal Faith goal setting

Why Godly Goal setting is important

Why is it important to set Godly goals?

1. It's spiritual discipline
Life is linear, not circular- moving towards goal

2. Goals moves towards energy-FOCUS
Be intentional. 1 Corinth 9
Focused energy creates big things. You don't have time for everything. 2nd class causes betray us.  Urgent is usually not most important.  Won't matter tomorrow.  Don't waste time on nonessentials.

3.  Goals stretch your faith.  Do something that requires God help.  Dream great dreams for God.  What would require me in faith?  Take risks.

4.  Goals build your character (cultivate).  Obstacles change character.  God wants you to grow up.  You take your character to heaven, nothing else.  It's the struggle that develops the character. Don't give in, when you have difficultie.

#1 goal is to be like Jesus. Fruit of the spirit.  It will take time.  You want to be more kind.  How? Is it measurable?

5.  Goals give you hope.  Hope to cope.  Hope is essential to life.  Have something to look forward to.

If you have no goal, then it will stay stays quo.  Long term goals keep me from short term set backs.

Jeremiah 29:11

What are Godly goals?

1.  Bring glory to God. 1 Corinth 10:31
Any goal that causes me to love Jesus more, serve him, witness. Cause you to obey him more and trust him more.  Any goal that make me more grateful to God, Goal to please Him.  "Look what God did for me?"

2.  Motivated by love.  Why did you set this goal?  He wants to know why you set the goal.  He won't bless a goal motivated by pride, ego, peer pressure, jealousy, envy, materialism, anger, fear or guilt.  He blesses goals that are motivated by love.  Everything you do, EVERYTHING YOU DO must be done WITH LOVE.  This is the number 1 lesson in life.  If you don't learn how to love, nothing else matters.

3.  Set a goal that requires faith.  It has to be big enough to depend on God to make it.  If you make it big enough, then you can say "Look what God helped me do", this is how we give glory to God with our goals.  Stretch and get out of your comfort zone and see the awesome power God has!

4.  They are achieved with God's power.  Again, if you set goals that require you to stretch, you will witness God's power (if it's motivated by the right reasons), and you can give credit to God.

How to achieve Godly goals?

1.  Write down the Steps, Deadline and put on the schedule.

When you make a plan, for your family, your business or your kids:  

1. STEPS - What are the steps to get from A to Z
2. DEADLINE - Deadline with every one of those steps.
3.  SCHEDULE - Put in your schedule.  Put it on the calendar.

2.  Discipline - You need discipline to achieve goals.  God is more important in your character in reaching the goal than the goal itself.  You last in eternity while your goals will only last a a generation or so.

3.  Depend on people.  You need to involve other people.  Success is never a one man show, it always involves more than 1 person.  God doesn't want you to go through life as a long ranger.  We are better together.  The greatest lesson in life for you to learn is to learn how to love others.  If all your goals can be accomplished by yourself, then they aren't from God.  God wants you to learn cooperation, to learn teamwork, sensitivity, deference and all the characteristics on getting along with people.  Ask yoruself, "Who else can I involve?"

God wants you to be the answer to other people's prayer as well.  He doesn't want you to live an isolated, selfish kind of life.

4.  Deposit the price.  There is always a price tag to reach the goal.  It may cost you time or money.  Letting go of things you like to do to make time for this.  Know upfront there are just things you will be giving up to achieve this goal.

Notes from Rick Warren's message "God's Prescription for a Healthy, Life, Setting Goals in Faith"