We recently turned the page on another year on man’s calendar. Although the biblical new year doesn’t start until springtime, the entire world around us is geared to the Gregorian calendar, and now is as good a time as any to reset, re-focus, and re-commit to our spiritual walk, our relationships, our fellowship, and our individual parts in the body of Messiah. I encourage you to take some time to prayerfully develop specific spiritual goals for the next 12 months, as well as goals in other areas of your life.

Goals are important and the Scriptures are full of examples of people who set goals or had them set for them by Yahweh. Abram had a goal (given to him by Yahweh) to become a “father of many nations”. Moses had a goal to free the ancient Israelites from bondage in Egypt. Joshua had a goal to lead them into the Promised Land. Even Yahshua had a goal: nothing less than the redemption of all mankind. And His apostles had a goal to preach the Gospel to all nations and make disciples.

What is a goal? Webster’s Dictionary defines it as “The terminal point of a race; the end toward which effort is directed; aim”. This is in line with what Paul wrote to the Romans, that “Messiah is the end (Greek telos – goal, the point aimed at) of the Torah for righteousness to everyone that believes.”

Goals give us direction and focus. There’s an old saying, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else”. Put another way, you can’t hit a target that you can’t see. Michael Jordan is regarded as one of the greatest basketball players who ever played the game, but how good would he have been if he’d been forced to play blind-folded, if he couldn’t see his goal?

As believers it is critical that we have a vision – to know what we’re called to do – and to develop practical goals to give us the necessary direction and focus to fulfill our individual and corporate callings. Many people recommend using the S.M.A.R.T. method, that is, devising goals that are:

• Specific
• Measureable
• Achieveable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

This is a sample Personal Spiritual Goals sheet that you can use as a starting point.