October 25, 2006
Dear Friend,
I believe in setting goals. Good goals do several things for me. First, my goals tell me where I should be investing my energy and resources. Then, my goals determine whether I am succeeding or failing in life. Do you have spiritual goals? Spiritual goals are what the apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote in 1Timothy 6:11: “You hunt or diligently pursue righteousness, piety, faith, love, patient perseverance, and gentleness.” In this verse, Paul gave Timothy six spiritual goals:
- Righteousness aspires to be right in our thinking, in our emotions, and in our choices.
- Piety calls us to see God as the source of everything good in our lives and then to love Him and serve Him as expressions of our appreciation.
- Faith teaches us to build our hopes on the goodness of God and to see spiritual realities.
- Love directs our energy to be pleasing to God and gracious with people.
- Patient perseverance is a quality of soul that accepts the reality that life is difficult and challenging but still attempts noble challenges.
- Gentleness originates in a strong and secure soul but expresses itself in gracious and helpful ways.
I accept these six qualities as spiritual goals. This means I intend to put energy and resources into living out these qualities and I will judge my success by how well these define my life. Will you join me in the noble Christian practice of setting and diligently pursuing spiritual goals?
Doc
