Two Questions to Ask of Your Goals

by Rick Warren — December 28, 2018

“When you eat or drink or do anything else, always do it to honor God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 CEV).

It’s important to set goals. But not every goal that you can set is a good goal that God’s going to bless.

So how do you know the kind of goal that God will bless? Ask yourself these questions:

  1. “Will my goal honor God?”

What kind of goal brings glory to God? Any goal that causes you to trust him more, to depend on him more, to love him more, to love other people more, to serve him, to serve others, to be more unselfish.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “When you eat or drink or do anything else, always do it to honor God” (CEV). Everything can be done to honor God. You can honor God by taking out the trash. You can honor God by washing the dishes. You can honor God by doing that mundane task at work. How? By doing it with the right motive: gratitude. If you want your life to bring honor to God, set goals that help you be the best you can be for God’s glory.

  1. “Is my goal motivated by love?”

God is not going to bless a goal motivated by greed, envy, guilt, fear, or pride. But he does honor a goal that is motivated by a desire to demonstrate love to him and to others, because life is all about learning how to love.

Why is it important to have goals based on love? Because if you set loveless goals, you’re going to treat people as projects. You’re going to run all over them to reach your goal. You’re going to run over your spouse, your family members, your friends, and other people as you climb up the ladder of success. God says, “No. You’ve got it all wrong. It’s not about accomplishments. It’s about relationships. It’s about learning how to love.”

“Do everything in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14 NIV). Your number one goal in life should be to learn how to really love your family, your neighbors, and even those who are hard to love. That makes you more like God, because God is love.

Talk It Over

  • What goals will you set for yourself for the next year? How do they hold up under these two questions?
  • How does your attitude toward menial daily tasks change when you consider that everything can be done to honor God?
  • Have you considered how your goals affect other people? When you do, how do your goals change?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.