The Goal

Starting off on a hike in the Snowy Range in Southern Wyoming

We are often goal-driven. We have goals for our lives that include finance, health, family, and faith. I have a number of goals myself. I have written them down. I have created vision boards. I have kept a log. I have succeeded in reaching goals. I have failed as well. I recently read Atomic Habits by James Clear, and he made a point about creating habits that help to reach longer-term goals. In the book, he said something that resonated with me in a way it had not before. As we work to break a bad habit or to create a new, healthy habit, we must begin to identify ourselves differently. My own experience was a testament to that concept. If someone struggling with weight loss wants to set a goal to lose those pounds that just won't come off, it may help for them to see themselves as "someone who eats healthy" rather than "someone struggling with weight loss." It may seem like semantics, but I believe there is strength in that concept. With this mindset, we aren't calling ourselves something we are not. We are simply putting emphasis on the identity that aligns with the goals. "I am making healthy choices," "I am a non-smoker," "I lift weights," and "I am a writer" are not prideful statements. They aren't really a stretch of reality. They are part of who I am.

If we relate this to our faith, we have a great number of identity statements that are given to us by our Creator. The statements are sometimes hard to come to terms with. They can be a source of joy. They can change our eternity. The Bible provides a very early identity statement we can all claim. In Genesis, as God is creating man, he sets up our identity. Genesis 1:26 starts, "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...'" We are made in the image of God. That's an amazing identity statement. As we deal with others at work, at home, and even on the road (I struggle with this one), we should remember that everyone we encounter is made in the image of God.

Another identity, however, comes as a result of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. We sinned. We missed the mark of perfection that God laid out for us. As a result, we must start our lives with an additional identity. 1 John 1:8 says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." If that was the end of it, we would all have to simply identify as a sinner. At some time in our faith journey, we must reach the point of acknowledging this identity. If we don't, then, as John pointed out, we deceive ourselves and can't get to the point of the next identity I want to share.

Once we make the admission of our sinful identity, we can see that Christ made a way for us to have an altogether new and absolutely awesome identity—that of a joint heir with Him. As we see our sin in contrast to God's perfection and know that sin can't be in God's presence, it could feel hopeless. The truth is, if we try to bridge that gap ourselves, it is hopeless. There's no "good" I can do that will ever be good enough. The hope lies in the fact that Christ did it for us. He bridged that gap. Through His death, we have an inheritance, and through His resurrection, we have life if we follow Him as the Lord or Leader that He is. The new identity we obtain through that is described in Romans 8:16-17: "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." We who follow Christ can identify ourselves as "heirs with Christ" and as "children of God." That's enough to melt my brain. I'm not worthy of that kind of identity, but the Bible says that Christ intercedes for us and covers our unworthiness. He made a way for us to bridge the gap between our imperfect lives and the absolute righteousness of God.

Back to the goals. If I can identify as a child of God, I want to make my Father proud. I want to do things that please Him. This should drastically affect all of the goals for our lives. Financial goals change to goals of stewarding what God has provided for us. Family goals gain a Biblical perspective. Health goals become a means of keeping ourselves in such a way that we can have the energy needed to do what God wants us to be doing. Our faith goals gain depth and meaning which will affect eternity. Our ultimate goal should be much like Paul the Apostle's.

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.  Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.