The view was incredible.
Driving up the coastal highway was like scrolling through an Instagram feed of one amazing view after another. The salty ocean breeze swirled through the car’s open windows. My eyes stayed glued to the deep blue ocean accented with whitecaps along the shore. My mind wandered to how beautiful the scene would be at sunset.
A honking car horn jolted my attention back in place. Oncoming traffic was apparently concerned that my car had slowly drifted across the double yellow lines on the two-lane highway.
My focus didn’t match my intention to drive safely on my side of the road. That’s when I realized something important about goals.
Goals are like street signs; they’re not the final destination, but they help us get there.
3 Ways Goals Make Your Life Better
1. Goals set your direction.
Goals are like street signs; they’re not the final destination, but they help us get there.
If we take our eyes off where we want to go, we’ll end up where we didn’t think we’d be. Goals are a tool to help us move from Point A to Point B. They give us a measurable course of growth.
It’s often on the path of progress we find God’s promises are even better. We can have hope for a better future because, no matter what struggles we endure, He’s promised He’ll be with us (Jeremiah 29:11-13).
2. Goals inspire you to complete something.
Anyone can start something, but few people can finish it. How can we turn what we intend into what we accomplish?
Plans lead to profit (Proverbs 21:5). Any goal worth reaching deserves to be thought out in advance. It’s better to calculate the consequences of a plan than to carelessly dive into it (Luke 14:28-33). And when circumstances force a change to our plans, we can still keep going.
It takes preparation to start well, but it takes improvisation to finish well.
3. Goals keep you focused on what matters.
The best goals always fit within the things God wants to achieve (John 4:34). Like an orbiting satellite stays in sync with satellite dishes on the earth, we live the best when our priorities align with God’s priorities.
Goals are good but God’s plans are perfect (James 4:13-15). We can be open-handed with our goals, but uncompromising on our purpose: to know Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14). He doesn’t love us less if our plans collapse because His forgiveness runs deeper than our failures.
Goals set the direction of your life; grit determines the conclusion of it.
Goals Make Churches Better, Too
NewSpring’s goal is to reach 100,000 people in South Carolina and beyond. This happens one person at a time. As each of us individually take next steps in our walks with Jesus, more and more people will meet Jesus across the state.
This goal helps us get where God’s called us (Matthew 28:19-20). We’re not meant to keep the message of Jesus to ourselves, so we’ll do whatever it takes to reach more people far from God and teach them to follow Jesus step by step.
