Smart Goals | A Different ApproachSample

Past, Present, and Future

In my Christian experience, I’ve observed the tendency in fellow believers, and myself, to obsess over one of two things—the past or the future. Maybe you’re like me, and you get caught up in the “what ifs” and the constant scheming toward securing your preferable future and vision of the good life. You may need to heed the words of James more regularly. I know I need to:  

James 4:13-17 says, Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit;’ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

Or, perhaps you need a good dose of wisdom from Paul about the past. His mindset was to forget those things that are behind. He pressed on toward the goal of becoming Christlike; reaching forward to those things which are ahead (PHI 3:13).

Whatever you’re struggle, I guarantee that our sin and our enemies’ schemes against us remain the same. The goal of evil is to cause us to lose sight of the power of moments. This is where love takes place. Love and service unto God’s glory are God’s priorities, and I am ashamed how often my check list, “to dos,” and my laundry list of “I wish I hadn’t done that,” has completely erased my attention from the now! 

I’ve missed so much. 

The goal then of this study is to get us to think about “goal setting.” The title given to this study, “Smart Goals,” is supposed to be a bit sarcastic. Yes, we need to consider the system of the world in planning goals. Yes, we should consider the specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely nature of all that we do, but we must most importantly think about how we measure all these things. We are finite humans, and our aims are often far too small and very worldly.

Since we all set goals, and specifically around particular times of the year—whether during New Year’s resolution time, or Fiscal Year board meetings, we need to seek God’s perspective on how to balance the past, the present, and the future. Consider today’s verses, and join us in the days ahead in seeking how we are to best maintain our work-filled advance, and yet preserve our resting-faith.

For more on how to become like Christ in craft and character visit www.gardencityproject.com or join us for the world wide Make Jesus Culture Conference at www.makejesusculture.com.