Category: Goal setting

3 Essential Spiritual Goals for Lasting Growth

At the start of a new year, many people create goals they hope to achieve by year’s end. But let’s be honest—by now, many of those goals have already been forgotten or abandoned. While there’s plenty to say about the value of goal-setting and the reasons we fall short, I want to shift the focus to something more eternal: your spiritual goals.

Spiritual Goals Aren’t Measured by the Calendar

Unlike career or fitness goals, spiritual growth isn’t defined by how much you accomplish in a year. The real measure is how you’ve lived when your life is complete. As Christians, our ultimate goal is eternity with Christ. That means our focus should be less on ticking boxes each year and more on whether our daily decisions are sowing into eternal life.

Recently, I’ve been reflecting deeply on what it truly means to have godly ambition. I’ve realised that the vision I carry can’t be limited to a 12-month framework. I want to tell the world—literally the entire world—about Jesus. I long to lead millions into salvation, to create resources that nurture a vibrant walk with Christ, and to inspire men, women, and children by the way I live and love. If that’s truly my goal, then I need to examine how I live today.

God has been showing me areas where I’m not aligned with the level of discipline and devotion required for that kind of impact. The truth is, my current pace of life—comfortable and familiar—won’t produce the fruit I long to see. Real spiritual transformation requires intentional sacrifice and radical prioritisation.

In all of this, one scripture keeps echoing in my heart: John 15. I’ve read it many times, but I now realise I’ve missed the point. “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” That’s Jesus speaking. And if He’s right—and He is—then I must prioritise time with Him, hearing His voice, and living in obedience. These are the three pillars that sustain any meaningful spiritual journey.

1. Listen to His Voice

In a world flooded with opinions, ideologies, and noise, hearing God’s voice is not just helpful—it’s essential. I love the dynamic between Jesus and His mother Mary. She was wise and full of faith, yet still very human. After searching anxiously for a 12-year-old Jesus, she finally finds Him in the temple. His response? “Didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s house?”

Even those closest to us—our mentors, parents, or friends—may not always understand or affirm God’s call on our lives. That’s why we must learn to hear from God personally. Yes, He speaks through spiritual leaders and those in authority, but their voices should never replace the voice of the Holy Spirit in your own life.

Think about it: how will you discern divine direction from distraction if you can’t recognise God’s voice? The internet, schools, workplaces, and even entertainment constantly promote their own values. These voices aren’t always malicious, but they often reflect agendas that aren’t aligned with your God-given purpose. What we listen to shapes our mind, emotions, and ultimately, our spiritual destiny. Guard your ear gates and tune your spirit to God’s frequency.

2. Prioritise Time with God

There’s a popular saying: quality time over quantity of time. But when it comes to building a relationship with God, quantity often leads to quality. It’s hard to develop intimacy with God on leftover minutes and rushed prayers squeezed between errands. There’s no one-size-fits-all rule for when to spend time with God, but there is something powerful about setting aside focused, uninterrupted time each day. When we prioritise our quiet time with God, we give Him space to speak, correct, encourage, and lead.

Ask Him to guide you. Ask Him to stir a hunger in your heart. And as you commit to carving out that sacred time, you’ll find that quality begins to blossom in the midst of quantity.

3. Practice Obedience

Hearing God’s voice is one thing. Obeying it is another. Yet the fruit of a Spirit-filled life is found in doing what God has said—not just hearing it.
Isaiah 1:18-19 offers us an invitation: “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land.” God’s instructions are not burdens—they’re blueprints for abundant living. He’s not trying to restrict us; He’s guiding us toward our best and most fulfilling future.

Still, obedience often feels unnatural. We’re used to living life a certain way. Change is uncomfortable. But here’s the good news: when we say yes to God—even while trembling—He supplies the grace and courage we lack. Don’t wait until obedience feels easy. Ask God for help, and declare, “Lord, Your Word is important to me. Strengthen me to follow through.”

The Bottom Line

There are countless tools, strategies, and spiritual disciplines we’ll explore in future posts. But before anything else, God desires your ears, your heart, and your time.

Make space daily to hear His voice. Choose to obey, even when it’s hard. Spend time in His presence—not as a task, but as a lifeline. If you can commit to these three spiritual priorities, everything else will fall into place. And you’ll find yourself not just setting goals—but actually growing into the person God created you to be.

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January in Summary

I have spent the better part of January praying and waiting on God for what he has for me. I don’t have all the answers but, I have made a conscious choice to make sure that I am in a place where I can get the answers and directions, I need to ensure that I end up in the place where God has destined me to be. I can’t achieve the dreams God has given me by myself. I need the interference of someone who knows better and someone much stronger than me to help me get to my desired destination. My natural self is prone to discouragement and inconsistency. Without his divine assistance I will lose strength and momentum along the way. Because I know this, I have given myself over to prayer and supplication and focused more on receiving what I need to excel this year and the decades to come.

With the month rapping up I have confidence that God has my back because I have taken out time to make the necessary sacrifice that will enable me to excel this year. Of course, there is the requirement for ongoing, supplication further down the road, but for now I know that it is time to begin the journey and take that first step in Faith. Faith that God has heard your prayers and that he is with you and won’t let you take steps in the wrong direction. You can only have this assurance if you have really spent time in surrender to God in prayer.

Another thing I have been more deliberate with, which I will certainly continue to practice is reading the word and praying it back to God. The Bible in one-year plan on YouVersion has been a great resource in maintaining this. The plan gives you 4-5 chapters in the new and old testament to read daily and encourages you to write your thoughts and take away points at the end of each daily reading. It is spilt up in monthly portions so you can catch up here with February, if you would like to join. You are also able to invite others to join you with your daily reading habit and turn it into a group bible study. It’s also a great way to get your family members involved and keeps you accountable. It is a very useful and helpful tool if you are seeking to develop discipline in this area of your spiritual growth.

Finally, I’d like to encourage you to review yourself each month. How did your January go? Did you pray more like you said you would? Did you stick to your goals? Did you commit your goals into the hands of the Lord and trust him? Did you write down the words and instructions you received from him? Are they in line with the Word? Which scripture spoke to you the most this month as you read the word?

As you continue to ask yourself questions that evaluate your journey into 2020, think of what you can do better or differently in February and set yourself small targets to do things that will further develop your spiritual life. Yes, I am asking you to prioritise your spiritual goals above every other goal. This is what Daniel and his friends did. Their spiritual goal was to please God and worship him alone and to fulfil the requirements of the law of God even if that meant going against the customs, norms and legal decrees of the Land. Instead of their health, education, careers and finances declining, they flourished, prospered and excelled in all that they did. I strongly believe that if you prioritise your spiritual goals and do what is said in the scriptures you will also begin to experience flourishing in your finances, relationships, career, health and wellbeing. This is what God wants for us and what he is willing to give us.

Reflecting at Christmas

This is by far the busiest times of the year and it’s not because of all the shopping. Actually, according to Shopify, November is the busiest commercial month of the year. I think it’s all the end of year rush, last-minute work targets and personal goals we want to achieve all between now and the 31st 23:59 which gets us all worked up. And on top of all that we want to enjoy the festivities and rest. We will soon discover that we cannot rest if we don’t eliminate the stressors in our way. At this time though I would say that one of the most important and beneficial things you can do for yourself is to spend time in reflection. When I’m reflecting or journaling it is in these moments when I’m most aware of what God has been teaching me through the day or the year. We need to intentionally create moments where we have epiphanies based on what is happening. Significant changes do not happen with the turn of a calendar it happens when we allow our minds to receive and engage with what is happening in our environments. We are praying for God to change our stories in the new year or decade, but we must ask ourselves what God has been engraving on the tables of our hearts over the last year or even decade that we haven’t paid attention to.

Beyond the feelings and the goosebumps, we might get when we encounter God, there are notable changes that take place in less spectacular ways inside of us. Being a lot more reflective, has help me understand that I ought to look for the mundane. Looking for God in the silence and seemingly insignificant is how Elijah got his life back as he stood on the mountain of God at the brink of depression.

I’m thinking about my life and things I want to focus on improving and things that I should keep and be more consistent with. Reflectively, I can say that I have grown over the last year. One of the key areas I have experienced growth and change in is how I think about giving and receiving love. It’s important to regularly reflect on how we relate with people and things.

Earlier in the year I had a conversation with someone that helped bring the thought process to mind and I can say that on reflecting on my understanding of extending love and hearing what the other person had to say, I found myself thinking that maybe I didn’t quite have a full understanding of what love – the God kind of Love – is. Maybe my limited understanding of how vast God’s love is keeping me from receiving all the wonderful gifts of God’s awesome love. I’ve begun thinking of love in a different way which has led to changes in how I practice love. Nothing drastic or dramatic, but significant enough for me to desire and chase after more of God’s kind of love in my heart. It is the kind of love that chases you and woos you regardless of how you are or what you’ve done. That love, loves you just because and nothing you could do could make it grow or diminish. Can I be that way towards myself and the people in my life? Can I be more loving regardless of what if?

At this point, I can say that any work that you catch me doing is related to reflecting and checking that the plans I make for the coming year are in line with the work that He has already begun in me. After all, what good is a perfect gift if I don’t take out the time to enjoy and use it?

Christmas blessings!

What do I do when one assignment comes to an end?

A couple of months ago I wrote about embracing your call and understanding that an assignment from God, be it staying at home to raise your children or working on a job that is not quite your definition of a ‘dream job’, is the call that he has for you. Wherever God has placed you is where he wants you to be and that is your calling.

But where do we go and what do we do when an assignment ends?

It can be really disconcerting when your routine is interrupted by a change in affairs. It could be that you have been made redundant at work or you have recently graduated and are looking to get into work. Or perhaps your children are grown and have moved out. No matter what your stage in life is, change can be uncomfortable and requires you to adjust your position. If you have been focused on a particular assignment for a long time it can be a lot more shocking and strange to suddenly be doing something else.

God moves us from one assignment to the next in order to keep us from becoming stale. Sometimes it is because we have outgrown our previous position. Embedded in every assignment are learning curves and challenges that are designed to stretch us. We don’t always feel the stretching. We don’t always feel growth pains, but it doesn’t always mean that we are not growing.
There are a host of reasons why God would want to move us to the next assignment. Whatever the reason, just know that it is to bless and increase you and not to subtract from you.

The commandment of God to humanity at the very beginning was for us to “be fruitful and multiply”, to “subdue the earth” and to “have dominion”. That commandment is still true today. It is not the purpose of God for our lives to be stuck in one spot. He desires that we spread and become masters over things. With this in mind we can start to understand what we should be doing when one assignment ends.

1. Give Thanks
Your attitude should be one of thanks giving. 1 Thessalonians 5:16, tells us to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Just over a week ago I was laid off a job that I had received a few months prior by what I could have only explain to be the intervention and grace of God. I which things had been different, but In my hearts of hearts I am thankful to God for the opportunity to learn, grow and be a blessing. I rejoice because I know where my source really is.
I don’t see it as a cut in my financial supply I see it as a step to doing something new, because God is my provider. Don’t be down cast.

2. Get Closer
The second part of that scripture says, ” pray without ceasing”. We should be praying to God all day, all the time. We can do this by praying in our hearts and rehearsing scriptures as we go through our day. (I will talk more on this in a separate post.) For now though I think that we can all agree that our lives get so busy with work and routine that we don’t put so much emphasis on praying as we should be. When our routines are interrupted we look for new things we can do to keep us busy again. This is the perfect time to get back in touch with God. You have all this free time now to pray more and study the word more. Go on hour long prayer walks or worship walks. Spend time with God. In the process, you will get clearer understanding of his purpose for your life and insight into your next assignment.

It’s so powerful how God created a part of the earth each day in Genesis 1 and then paused after each day to look at what he had done and then said that it was good. God modelled the nature of putting our work and aims under review before moving on to the next thing. It’s the principle of watching and praying. If you don’t keep your eyes and mind open you will miss the instructions God has for you. I have find that God has spoken to me more about what he wants me to do and the direction to take when I was preparing myself by putting myself through training, reflecting and listening.

I hope you find your feet landing on the path God has set before you. And may you find grace and peace in every season you find yourself in.

3. Prepare
‘Prayer is the master Key! One key for every door.’ This is the truth that we have been feed since first coming to the faith. What we fail to do alongside praying is prepare for what we have prayed for. Have you taken time out to recubirate, rest and skill up for the next assignment. Between each assignment there is a moment, an opportunity for you to clean and sharpen your tools. This moment can be used to reflect on the past. What would you change or do better? Sometimes God puts us on intentional pauses because we haven’t taken out time to give ourselves a break.

So, about those goals…

We often wait to reach the half way mark of the year before we start looking at our goals again and assessing how well we are doing. But I don’t think we should wait that long before we take another look at what we’ve achieved so far, how well we’ve done or how far we’ve strayed from our intended goals.

So, today I had a look at the more detailed notes I have for each goal in my goals journal and I noticed that

a) I had forgotten some things I wrote down and if I used what I wrote as a measurement of my success I wasn’t doing so well, and

b) perhaps I was a little too eager and excited and gave myself targets that were to high to reach.

And finally, C) I noticed that in the last few weeks I have focused more on achieving some goals and have not payed any attention at all to some others.

I’ve been asking myself if perhaps I gave myself to much to focus on in a short time. My goals are centered around the theme of development and having some tangible results at the end of the year. So for instance, I want to develop myself academically which obviously means that I will have some sort of qualification from a short course or will be enrolled on a course by the end of the year as evidence of that development. I also hope to see development spiritually, so I tasked myself to study particular sections and topics in the Bible in addition to my daily reading activity. I also want to develop my mind and broaden my thinking so I’m adding reading a new book every month on my list of things to do to achieve my goals, which in turn will also build my library.

These are just a few of the goals I put down, but as you can see this will inevitably place a demand on my time and finances and will also mean that I feel underdeveloped and stunted in my growth if I don’t meet my daily, weekly or monthly targets.

I’m sure you’re starting to see the importance of reviewing goals and assessing how practical the plans you’ve made are. No matter how smart your goals are they can out smart you if they don’t practically fit your current life style. Yes, of course you should be willing to change, but don’t make goals that will require you to make too many changes at the same time in a short space of time.

But here is what is even more important, No matter how smart your goals are and no matter how smart you are in working towards your goals, you CANNOT OUT SMART GOD!

Your goals are incomplete if you have not made spiritual goals, and they cannot be achieved if you do not priorities your spiritual goals. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and every other thing will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). You and I are the the Kingdom, and righteousness is our right standing with God, which is only made possible through the help of God, a thing we enjoy as a result of our relationship with Him.

The other thing we need to remember is that as we work towards our goals we need to constantly check what our motivations are. Is my desire to develop myself in 2018 godly? Am I driven by godly motivations, to please God with my growth and become the person that God wants me to be or am I focused on just getting it done and being able to say that I ticked of things on my list? You can work towards achieving your goals and do so well at this, but can be feeding of on the wrong motives. You might go on for years achieving all your goals before realizing that something is missing. It is the reason (purpose) behind what you do and not what you do that brings true fulfillment.

So, what am I taking away from my experience this afternoon? My focus needs to remain on being motivated on the advancement of God’s Kingdom in me and the promotion of righteousness as I work towards fulfilling my goals. I also see that there is a time for everything and that I cannot do everything at once, but I must stick to what is important and what I’ve decided to do now, being faithful and committed to it.

My prayer is, as always, that God causes what our hands find to do to prosper and makes us find rest in the fulfillment of all He has promised us in this year.