Can you believe it? January 2012 is
already almost half over!!! How are those resolutions going? As you look back
over 2011 I hope you can see changes in your life. Isn’t that why we make
resolutions each year? We want to grow and better ourselves.
Think about it, who were you 5 or 10
years ago? What was your personality? What did you know? Who were your friends?
Have you changed since then? If you knew me one, five, ten, or even 20 years
ago I hope that you see some sort of change in me.
Now I’m really not one for making New
Years’ resolutions, but I am definitely one for setting goals. So this year I
have taken a look at my life and decided that there are some things I really
want to improve. I have asked God to help guide me to accomplish manageable goals
in certain areas of my life where I need to improve. I am going to take each
area one at a time. If I don’t I will find myself giving up, then what good
does that do me?
I’d like to share a few things that
I’ve learned about setting goals and making changes. Maybe these are some new
concepts for you to consider. If you have already discovered these things,
maybe they will help spur you on to your next goal. I just hope they give us
all a renewed spirit about change. So here we go…
✞ Human Nature Doesn’t Want Change--Genesis
6:5-8 5 The
LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD
regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD
said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man
and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I
have made them.” 8 But
Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. (ESV)
The fall of man occurred
in Genesis 3. In Genesis 6 only a few hundred years after the very creation of
man God “regrets” making man! Think about that…
What does that tell
you? It tells me 2 things-
&
Man’s sinning was out of
control--God saw that all the intentions of man were evil
&
God absolutely HATES sin--so
much so that he was willing to totally eliminate all mankind and start over
with one godly man and his family
So if it were left
up to us (our human nature) we would have evil, sinful intentions, not things
that are for our good. Definitely not changes that are for our good and in line
with what God sees as good for us. Conclusion, our human nature does not want
to change for our good.
✞ God Gives Us The Ability To Change--Acts
7:58-59 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the
witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as
they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Acts 9:17,20,21 17 So Ananias
departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother
Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent
me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 20 And
immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of
God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this
the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? (ESV)
Paul is probably
one of the best examples of change that I know of. He persecuted Christians
worse than just about any one person I know of in the Bible. Stephen was the
first martyr for Jesus’ sake and Paul was right there. Paul not only witnessed
it but he approved of it as an employee of the government. However, when God
got a hold of him and showed Paul who He really was, Paul became one of the
most well known missionaries in Biblical times. He was personally responsible
for thousands becoming saved and indirectly responsible for probably millions
more.
So what does that
say to you? It tells me that if God can do such a mighty change in Paul, He can
change me, IF I WILL LET HIM! That is the key, I must be willing to let God
change me. No matter what I want to change, weight, exercise habits, money
habits, bible study, behavior with my family, etc., I have to let God work
through me.
✞ Change Can Be A Good Thing--John 3:16 16For God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)
Only after
accepting this verse as my own and turning my human nature’s wants and desires
over to God, will I be able to become the person He wants me to be.
Sometimes I hear
the word change and the only things I can think of are negative things, or the
negative aspects of things. Do you
know what I mean? For example:
Moving…packing up boxes, setting up a new place, Job Change…leaving what is comfortable, adjusting to new
tasks, leaving friends, Eating
Better, Exercising…Leaving the familiar, doing something hard, having to work
at being healthy. Just because those things seem negative at first doesn’t mean
that they are. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices now for our greater good
later.
If I _______________
now, I will be able to __________________ later.
Fill in the first blank
with something that is hard to do but is a goal. Fill in the second blank with
something you will gain from doing what is in the first blank. If I can look at
it that way maybe it makes the journey a little easier and definitely
worthwhile.
A week or so ago I was reading from
some devotions I receive by email. They are from 3 ladies who call themselves
Girlfriends in God. Mary Southerland wrote on this very subject and I thought I
would borrow something from her that I thought was very useful and thought
provoking. She said that when we make goals they need to be “S.M.A.R.T.”
✞ SPECIFC-Start out with a general goal then break it into bite size pieces, so
it doesn’t seem so daunting.
✞ MEASURABLE-Make sure you have a way to tangibly track your progress. Instead of,
I will be more involved with my children’s activities, say I will volunteer at
my children’s school once a week.
✞ ATTAINABLE-If you set your goals too high or too general you will give up. So
set them where you can reach them, then readjust once they are reached. You may
not be able to solve world hunger, but maybe you can solve hunger on your
block.
✞ REALISTIC-We must be honest with ourselves. “Can I & will I accomplish this
goal?” Don’t set too many goals at once.
✞ TIMELY-Sometimes we have to give ourselves a timetable in order to meet the
goal or we won’t accomplish it. So if you need to, sit down with your calendar and
set a deadline. Also look at those markers along the way to see how you do.
Here are the links to the 2 devotions
that Mary Southerland did on goal setting if you would like to read them
yourself.
I pray that the year ahead is filled
with new accomplishments for us all!
Living in Grace,
Angie
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