“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:” ~ Genesis 12:1

In Genesis 12 we are told the account of the Lord calling Abram (eventually Abraham) out of his home, his family, and his country on a journey where he did not know the destination or the path he would travel.  This must have been incredibly frightening for Abram and only by trusting in the Lord did he set out and continue on that journey.  Likewise, for believers today the process of setting goals, working towards them, and even accomplishing them often leaves them in a place that is new and uncomfortable.  In those place if we find strength in the Lord amazing blessings can come our way.

If you haven’t already set goals for this year use what comes below to guide your goal setting.  If you have already set goals use what follows to evaluate your goals.  It’s not too late to write or revise goals, but don’t let this week pass without having goals for 2014 in place.

1. Christ Centered – The goals that we have for each year should include goals that regard our spirituality.  These are important and should be a center of our lives.  However, just because a goal does not directly focus on spiritual aspects does not mean it should not be Christ centered.  We should evaluate whether or not every goal we set is going to move us closer in our service to Christ or if it will move us closer to the world.  If it doesn’t move us closer to Christ then we need to revise or abandon the goal.
2. SMART – SMART is a fairly standard way of setting goals.  SMART stands for S – specific, M – measurable, A – attainable, R – realistic, T – timely or time bound.  While this method is widely published and probably overused it still represents good steps in goal setting.  After being Christ centered each of these measures should be considered.
3. Hope and Peace – If the goals you are setting are bringing fear and anxiety into your life rather than hope and peace then they need to be reconsidered.  That is not to say that a good goal will not make you nervous or stressed at times, but should not bring fear.  The Lord has instructed us that we are to fear not but rather trust in him.  Let us make sure that our goals don’t bring the unGodly things of fear and anxiety into our lives.

Set goals this week and begin praying that the Lord will help you move closer to Him.

May the Lord Bless you this week,

Elder J.W. Cunningham