“Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.” James 1:5 CSB
In my opinion, the first important goal to set for the new year is your spiritual goal. I say this because in my life, I prioritize who comes first. My husband knows, God comes before him. After God comes my husband, then family, then others. Those are the main priorities of my life. Therefore, since God is first, defining my spiritual goal comes first.
The first thing I do is pray. I simply ask God, what do You want me to work on next year? He knows the areas I need the most work. Psalm 139:1 NIV says, “You have searched me, Lord, and You know me.” He knows what He wants to work on in me, I want to let Him. After I pray, I wait. I have never waited more than a couple of days for my verse to come. Sometimes it has come immediately. This year, when I asked the Lord what my verse would be for 2020 I knew immediately. “But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:3b NIV). This is the verse next year for the group, it came immediately to mind when I asked the question to God. I’m taking that as His answer.
Once I have the verse, I search for the word within it. There are not a lot of words in my verse for this year. God has made it very clear to me, it’s love. These two combined will be my focus for next year. My life motto is “Love God, Love Others.” It’s an abbreviation of my life verses: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31 NIV). Living these verses are very challenging already. Loving God can be difficult, loving people can be difficult. God is hopefully going to make me a little better at it next year, than I have been.
That is how I set my spiritual goal, I talk to God. I go to the source and ask for His direction, then wait to receive it. As you start thinking about your spiritual goal, talk to God. You don’t have to be in a special place, or set a special mood. This year, when I asked God for my verse, I was blow drying my hair. God is available all the time, no matter what you are doing. Seek Him, ask Him, then wait for the answer.
Today I’m finding rest in my spiritual goal. How can you find rest today?
