I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. (Psalm 32:8)
Yesterday, I wrote about making decisions and being settled. I suspect most people don’t make goals, and most of those who do are probably like me. I write them down and that’s the end of them. I mean to do more, but life, laziness, and whim get in the way. This weekend is as good a time as any to get back on track.
For the past three months, I’ve been dipping my toes in the pool of “What do I want to be when I grow up?” and struggling with the doubts that are my “certainties:” that anything I decide will be the wrong decision and that if I ask God for something, it will be the wrong thing and in His mercy or reproof, He won’t grant it.
With those as whispering voices in the forest through which I wonder, it’s time to get to work at least to frame the questions that I need to answer. Most of the self-help, goal-setting gurus suggest that goals be set in things like “physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, intellectual, occupational and relational.” Those are good, but this time around, my thoughts are circling around the term “relational.”
The first question, my foundation on which all must be built is
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39) and “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” (Matthew 13:52)
Put simply, my goals are my plans for how I will love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself by sharing with them treasures old and new from my storeroom (which is usually my mind.) I believe the part in italics is the mission statement of every person in the world, whether they accept it or not.
With that established, the next question is in what spheres of influence, or in what roles I need to apply the loving. I am a Christian (which is several roles: one with God, one with man, one with the universe.) I’m a daughter/executrix of an estate. I’m a sister, aunt, neighbor, friend, citizen (which includes tax-payer and voter), writer, autodidact (independent scholar), a volunteer, an investor, a consumer, and a person. I’m a homeowner (which has a huge list of sub-roles), pet-owner, and truck-owner. I’m a gardener, a poor seamstress, a crafter, a photographer, a genealogist, and a choir member who would like to be a musician. And on top of all of those things, I need to decide what I’m going to do about being an employee.
You may not have the same roles, but I suspect you have many more than you can handle, just as I do. The good news is that some tasks fit multiple roles, and therefore multiple goals. When I walk, I exercise (benefitting all roles), pick up trash (citizen), walk and train my dog, and, on good days, pray. On the best days, I get to take pictures, too.
Right now, I think I need to work on the basics of all my roles, but I’m not sure what that means, except that some of the roles are going to be put on hold. This is one of the reasons we need God, because He is wise and knows which way we should go. We need Him because He's promised to guide us.
For the past three months, I’ve been dipping my toes in the pool of “What do I want to be when I grow up?” and struggling with the doubts that are my “certainties:” that anything I decide will be the wrong decision and that if I ask God for something, it will be the wrong thing and in His mercy or reproof, He won’t grant it.
With those as whispering voices in the forest through which I wonder, it’s time to get to work at least to frame the questions that I need to answer. Most of the self-help, goal-setting gurus suggest that goals be set in things like “physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, intellectual, occupational and relational.” Those are good, but this time around, my thoughts are circling around the term “relational.”
The first question, my foundation on which all must be built is
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39) and “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” (Matthew 13:52)
Put simply, my goals are my plans for how I will love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself by sharing with them treasures old and new from my storeroom (which is usually my mind.) I believe the part in italics is the mission statement of every person in the world, whether they accept it or not.
With that established, the next question is in what spheres of influence, or in what roles I need to apply the loving. I am a Christian (which is several roles: one with God, one with man, one with the universe.) I’m a daughter/executrix of an estate. I’m a sister, aunt, neighbor, friend, citizen (which includes tax-payer and voter), writer, autodidact (independent scholar), a volunteer, an investor, a consumer, and a person. I’m a homeowner (which has a huge list of sub-roles), pet-owner, and truck-owner. I’m a gardener, a poor seamstress, a crafter, a photographer, a genealogist, and a choir member who would like to be a musician. And on top of all of those things, I need to decide what I’m going to do about being an employee.
You may not have the same roles, but I suspect you have many more than you can handle, just as I do. The good news is that some tasks fit multiple roles, and therefore multiple goals. When I walk, I exercise (benefitting all roles), pick up trash (citizen), walk and train my dog, and, on good days, pray. On the best days, I get to take pictures, too.
Right now, I think I need to work on the basics of all my roles, but I’m not sure what that means, except that some of the roles are going to be put on hold. This is one of the reasons we need God, because He is wise and knows which way we should go. We need Him because He's promised to guide us.
Comments
Post a Comment