Make SMART Goals

I love goals.

Honestly, I am that person that loves New Year's resolution, goals, planning, vision....it gives me life and direction and meaning.

But, I must admit to you that I am a bit of a dreamer. I love to set big goals and sometimes lack the drive to FINISH what I start. 'Why' you ask? One of the big reasons is because I did not create SMART goals.

Many of you might have heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals. I learned about them when I was studying to be a personal trainer. My job was to help motivate people to stick with their personalized workouts and nutrition plans so that they would see their goals accomplished. In order to realize these goals I had to first assess if my clients had the right goals. The S.M.A.R.T. strategy helped me to to assess this. Are you wondering what the acronym S.M.A.R.T. stands for yet? Here we go. If you want to succeed in the first step, create goals that are:

S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Achievable
R: Relevant
T: Timely

Specific. Most goals we make are too broad. They are not necessarily bad, but they need to be specific if they are to be measured. We can desire to have a closer walk with the Lord, but what are the steps to take to reach that goal? A specific goal could be to set aside "x" minutes a day to read through a book of the Bible and pray. Pick the book beforehand. Have a prayer list beside you if it helps.

Measurable. Can you measure the goal? 'I want to spend 30 minutes a day in the Bible, 10 minutes in prayer and 5 minutes in scripture memory' is a better goal than I want to read more, pray more or memorize more. In fact, as far as scripture memory is concerned pick a verse and a deadline! But we will get to that in the 'Timely' section.

Achievable. Is this a goal that you can achieve at this time in your life? Are you a mother of young children getting up 2-3 times a night with little ones? Then getting up at 5am is probably not the wisest option. Be gracious with yourself and choose something that might challenge you but not overwhelm you. This might just be following the daily scripture readings on the blog as we journey through the book of John...that is perfectly okay! We are not trying to outdo one another with our goals. We want to seek a closer walk with the Lord.

Relevant. Is this a worthwhile goal? If we are talking time in the Bible, prayer, meditation and memorization then I think it is ALWAYS worthwhile! We were created for a relationship with our Maker...it is the only thing that gives us the true and lasting JOY our hearts desire. I cannot see a better use of time than growing close to the one who we will get to spend eternity with! Let us allow His words to sink into our hearts that we may become doers of the Word for His glory, other's good, and the satisfaction of our souls!

Timely. Did you pick a deadline? My husband and I are memorizing Psalm 103. We have been since...February? We are half way through still because we do not have a deadline! Pick a deadline to measure your success. I've set one for us now. Psalm 103 by the end of July. Done.

Of course, we need to be reminded that we are not making goals to earn favor with God.  When we put our faith in Jesus and his death for us on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, we are forgiven, adopted in God's family, justified, made a new creation through the Holy Spirit, we are being sanctified and we will be glorified. We need to fight to remember and to believe these glorious truths.

In John Piper's words, prioritizing these habits of grace is really a means of "[fighting] to walk in the paths where he has promised His blessings."

Every relationship you have takes time and energy doesn't it? It is the same with our relationship with God. If we do not set aside a day and time and have a plan, we will fill our day with other things. We need to be intentional to prioritize the most important of all our relationships. The Bible says to "train yourself for godliness" 1 Timothy 4:7. Training requires discipline. Don't believe the lie that this is a worthless use of your time. Remember that 'apart from [Jesus] you can do nothing." We need to abide in Him and in His Word.

In another post we will talk about structured and unstructured time with the Lord, but for now let's start to come up with a plan to prioritize the most important of all relationships.

So what are my goals?
BIBLE: After thinking through this, I want to devote my Bible reading, meditation and copying of scripture (more about that in a future post...) to the Gospel of John alone so that I do not rush through but can fully immerse myself in the Gospel: lingering, praying over and digesting the text.
PRAYER: "x" minutes set aside :-)
MEMORIZATION:  See Bible Memorization post!

Now it is your turn! What are your goals for Bible, prayer, and scripture memory?