Rebooting Resolutions

In early January, I asked my wife what she thought would be a good topic for my upcoming teaching. She brought up goals and grace, since it is a new year. It got me thinking about how people often feel weird about setting goals and about the way I have related to the subject over the years.

I’m a pretty goal-oriented person and have often planned and set goals. But I have been realizing that much of my goal setting has sprung from questionable motives and has led to less than pleasant outcomes. A lot of my goals over the years have, frankly, had to do with trying to become somebody—to alleviate a sense of insecurity and feel “accomplished.” A lot of my goals have been about ways to get people (and God) to respond to my attempts to influence them.

They have tended to be things like, “I will be spiritually disciplined in order to be happy and liked.” Because my goals have been driven by something other than God, they have often led to anger and sadness when I don’t reach them or when they are blocked. All of this tempts me at times to have no goals. But that is really not possible. Even having no goals is a goal borne out of some self-protective goal.

I realized I need to reboot my whole approach to goals. Instead of focusing what I will do for God this year, I thought I should look at what God desires to do in me. As I thought a bout it for awhile, I came to understand God’s broad goal this way: the Spirit of Christ desires to free me to be driven by love in order to glorify Him. Wow, to be liberated to love by His grace for His glory. So, the place to start is with Jesus’ goal for you rather than your goals. I will look (primarily from Galatians) at the why, the what, and the how of God’s goal for us in the coming week.