When you make an ice cream sundae, what would happen if you start by putting the cherry on the bottom and then putting everything on top of the cherry? You would not have much of an ice cream sundae.

That is the wrong base for an ice cream sundae. You need ice cream at the bottom and then you put all the other things on top.

The same thing is true with your goals. You need to have the right foundation for your goals. You need to know what God is calling you to do in the New Year.

What is the foundation for your goals?

You need to know what God is calling you to do. If we do not have that as our starting point, we will struggle to achieve our goals. Our goals need to be aligned with God’s calling.

The foundation for our goals needs to be what God is calling you us to do. Here are seven things that God is calling each of us to do in the coming year. While we look at these commands generally, we also need to look specifically in our own lives.

Called to Love God and our Neighbors

Love God. It sounds so simple. We get pulled into the world’s idea of love. The world says, “love yourself” or “do what you love.” The world’s love is about pleasing yourself but the love that God has shown is about the other person. God loved us and there is so much action in his love. Our loving should not be what we get but what we give.

Jesus summed up all the law with one command, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind”. (Matthew 22:37) What does it mean to love God? We love people that we know. The people that we love we want to spend time with. God is calling us to love God and others. Read this about why we are commanded to love.

Specifically – How can you grow in loving God and loving your neighbor? Is there someone that you need to love more?

Called to Deny yourself

That is not something that is on the top of the list for goals but it is one of the things that God calls us to do. The world says that we are entitled to a list of things but Jesus calls us to deny ourselves. Are we willing to give things up so we can follow Christ? (Luke 9:23-27)

Specifically – How would our goals and life look if denying ourselves would be included in that list? What areas might God be calling you to deny yourself?

Called to Be Content

The world around us tells us to go for it, get more of whatever, don’t settle. The Bible teaches us to be content. Paul writes,” I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” (Philippians 4:11) As we are content, we are trusting God and our hearts are at peace.  Take what God has given you, be thankful to him and then make it beautiful. God is calling us to be content. Contentment is a Discipline of Success.

Specifically – What situations or circumstances has God placed in your life? List some of your unique ones then consider how content you are in those circumstances.

Called to Grow in Grace and Knowledge

A tree doesn’t decide one year that it just isn’t going to grow this year. The tree does not say, “I think I will take a year off growing.” A healthy tree grows because that is what it does. So to should we as Christians be growing every year. Strive to grow in understanding God’s grace. As we are growing in grace we should be growing in our knowledge of God. (2 Peter 3:18) Growing is a sign of health. Make this a year of growth.

Specifically – What are some ways that you can grow in grace and knowledge this year? Is there a specific area of your life that you need to grow in knowing God?

Called to Walk with the Spirit

Walking is slower and gives us time to talk. As we walk are able to look at this around us. We are to be walking in the Spirit. So we are talking with the Spirit as we go through our day. Listening to the Spirit. Looking at the world around and asking how can I help, what is God asking me to do. Learn to walk with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16-25)

How can you strive this year to walk in the Spirit?

Called to Trust God

What does it mean to trust God? Trusting God means that you realize who God and who you are. Trusting God means we understand that all we have comes from him. The provision, the strength, the wisdom comes from God. Learn to trust God in deeper ways this coming year. (Proverbs 3:5)

Specifically – Are there areas in your life that you are struggling to trust God?

Called to Glorify God

We often do things to make ourselves look good or hoping that we will hear the praise of others. Learning to glorify God requires that we humble ourselves and understand that it is not about us but about God We recognize that it is God working and we give him the praise. In everything we do, we are to glorify God. We are called to live differently and that means to glorify God in all we do. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Specifically – How would your goals be different if you set them to glorify God with each goal?

How would your goals look if these were the foundation?

These seven things are what God has called us to do each day and each year. A challenge in these is we grow in these areas but it is not something that we have complete while here on earth. As we grow, we learn again how much we need to grow and so we continue.

My challenge to you and myself is that as we create goals that we will write them remembering what God has called us to do each year. With these areas as a foundation for our goals, we will be on the way to set goals that will be achievable.

This is part 1 of a series, Know Yourself, designed to assist you to write achievable goals for the new year. A critical component of goal setting it to know yourself so that the goals you set are ones that you will be able to achieve.

Sign up for my newsletter and I will be sending a worksheet to help you write goals that align with these foundational truths.