In Life Goals, Part 1, I told you that I would share with you what I call “My Life’s word”.

My life’s word sums up all of my goals and dreams, it is the one word that I hope will describe my life after I’ve died and they put my body in the ground.  For me this word is Faithful.

Faithful [feyth-fuh l]

adjective

1. strict or thorough in the performance of duty: a faithful worker.

2. true to one's word, promises, vows, etc.

3. steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant: faithful friends.

4. reliable, trusted, or believed.

5. adhering or true to fact, a standard, or an original; accurate: a faithful account; a faithful copy.

6. Obsolete. full of faith; believing.

noun

7. the faithful.

1. the believers, especially members of a Christian church or adherents of Islam.
2. the body of loyal members of any party or group.


I will never be perfect... I’ve failed too many times for that. But if I keep getting back up when I stumble, if I keep seeking  Him and put His Will first in all things, if I keep pressing on toward the goal, then I may be faithful.

I love the quote in Matthew 25:14-30 (read it!), “Well done my good and faithful servant”. That’s all I want out of life, to be called faithful. Every one of my goals require that trait.

What word reflects the goals that you have?

My life’s mission statement reflects this same idea:

“Faithfully commit my life to the Lord as a willing and faithful servant.”

Romans 12:1-2
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

“Faithfully commit my life to the Lord as a willing and faithful servant.”

How can I do anything less than this in view of His great love, mercy and faithfulness? Yet, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. It’s a struggle. Romans 7:14-25. Why do you think that the entire Scripture is full of either pleas for the ungodly to repent or warnings to the righteous not to be deceived or fall away? Be alert, be on guard and be ready to take your stand against the devils schemes. It is a struggle, it is a war.

The Bible is full of examples of men and women who exemplify the trait of faithfulness.... or the lack thereof. One of the most striking is found in Matthew 26, Peter's pledge of faithfulness to the Lord and then his brokenness of heart when he realizes that he was not faithful. I don't want to weep those bitter tears. Thankfully, we can see from Peter's example, that God can use us even when we fail.

In my next and final post in this series, I will share in depth on my first 3 life goals as well as list the rest of my goals for your perusal. Hopefully you will be inspired to write your own goals. When you do, don't keep them shut-up in a notebook. Tape them somewhere where you can read them frequently, share them with friends and family that they may encourage you and keep you accountable. Who knows, maybe you will inspire someone to write their own goals. :)

I leave you with this excerpt:

Hebrews 3:12-14 "See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end." 

Blessings in all your goal writing endeavors,

Bethany 

Our family has been using this recipe for about five years now and it works great! It's very simple and easy to make. [A note from Bethany: Before we started making our own, we bought a creamy yellow detergent that was lemon scented. One time Naomi and I told Emily that it was lemon frosting and she tasted it! This was, of course, several years ago. Needless to say, it didn't taste as good as it looked or smelled :p]

Goals. Setting goals is a helpful tool you can use to help motivate and encourage you to grow. Personally, I’ve always been a goal setter and a list maker (don’t even ask how many bucket lists I’ve created!) but recently I’ve had the experience of being challenged to re-write my life goals. This has been so encouraging and life changing! I spent two days re-evaluating my life goals through much prayer and soul searching. The focus of my heart’s prayer was this: Abba Yah, what do you want for me? Show me where you want me to go and what you want me to do.

Later I will share the goals that I came up with. But first, I want to challenge you to write a list of goals on your own. What types of goals do you think God wants you to have? Some of these may be general goals and applicable to any believer, others may be more specific to you and the life the Lord has called you to live.

In a series of posts I’d like to share with you my top three goals, along with how I plan to smartify each goal. That’s right, goals should be SMART. Smart goals are:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Relevant

Time-bound

Specific

Here is an example of a non-specific goal: Be a good person

It’s great if you want to be a good person, but just saying that you want to be a good person isn’t going to make you any 'gooder' than you already are. It should help you be more specific in your goal if you define “good”.

An example of a better goal would be: Be kind and attentive to my friends and family

Or, Start volunteering at the local food pantry.

Measurable

Having the goal to “Be a good person” doesn’t provide you with a way to measure your progress. To measure progress it helps to recognize where you are right now. Maybe you don’t volunteer at all right now, so a measurable goal for volunteering would include an amount of time that you hope to dedicate.

Attainable

I don’t know that you can ever say you’ve attained the goal of being a good person, but you may someday achieve the goal of being kind and attentive to friends and family or volunteering at the food pantry

Relevant

Really now, don’t set a goal that isn’t even relevant. Setting a goal to become the world’s hairiest gorilla isn’t going to be relevant if you are unable to grow hair..or if you are not a gorilla.

Time-bound

Do you have a time span in which you hope to have this goal achieved? Sure, some goals are life long, but others work better when given a deadline. Deadlines inspire urgency and can help motivate you to complete your goal.

Example of a non-time-bound goal: Volunteer more

Time-bound goal: Volunteer with Sarah this Summer

Before and after smartifying the goal:

Not smart goal: Be a good person

Smart goal: Volunteer with Sarah this summer at the homeless shelter

As I share my goals with you, I pray that you are encouraged and challenged to write or re-write the goals for your own life. Place them where you are constantly reminded to read, pray and apply these goals to your life.

As I share my goals with you, I pray that you are encouraged and challenged to write or re-write the goals for your own life. Place them where you are constantly reminded to read, pray and apply these goals to your life.

Scriptures to read as you create your list of goals:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 

"Trust in Yahweh with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make your paths straight."

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will."

"In his heart a man plans his course, but Yahweh determines his steps."

Meditate on the verses above (and find some more that inspire you!) then prayerfully write out your life goals.

In my next post, Part Two, I will cover my Life Goals as summed up in one word. Maybe after writing your goals you will find a common theme. That's what I did, my Life "word" is the pith of my goals, it sums them up beautifully. I will also share my Life's mission statement before starting Part Three. In Part Three I will share the first 3 of my Life Goals. I have 12 Life Goals in total, but for the sake of privacy I will only be expounding on only the top 3, most general of my goals. For the other 9 you will have to use your imagination.

Until next time! Shalom,

Bethany