Transformed Week 1 - Setting Personal Goals

TRANSFORMED - SETTING PERSONAL GOALS

Message by:
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

WHY ARE GOALS IMPORTANT TO CHANGING MY LIFE?

1. GOAL-SETTING IS A SPIRITUAL RESPONSIBILITY


2. GOALS ARE STATEMENTS OF FAITH
   Matthew 9:29 NIV
   Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”;


3. GOALS FOCUS MY ENERGY
   1 Corinthians 9:26 NCV
   So I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air.


4. GOALS KEEP ME GOING
   Job 6:11 NLT
   But I don’t have the strength to endure. I have nothing to live for.


5. GOALS BUILD MY CHARACTER
   Philippians 3:12 GNB
   I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself.


6. GOOD GOALS WILL BE REWARDED
   Proverbs 11:27 GNB
   If your goals are good, you will be respected, but if you are looking for trouble, that is what you will get.

1 Corinthians 9:25-26a (NLT)
“All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step.”

WHAT KIND OF GOAL DOES GOD BLESS?

3 questions to ask:

1. WILL IT HONOR GOD?
   1 Corinthians 6:20 (CEV)
   God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God.
   1 Cor. 10:31 (CEV)
   When you eat or drink or do anything else, always do it to honor God.
   2 Corinthians 5:9 NIV
   So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.



2. IS IT MOTIVATED BY LOVE?
   1 Corinthians 16:14 NLT
   And do everything with love.
   1 Corinthians 14:1 NLT
   Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy.



3. WILL IT REQUIRE DEPENDING ON GOD?
   Proverbs 16:9 (Mes)
   “We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it.”

3 “Must Haves” to reach your goal and change your life

1. I NEED GOD’S SPIRIT TO EMPOWER ME
   
   Zechariah 4:6 (NCV)
   “You will not succeed by your own strength or power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.”



2. I NEED GOD’S WORD TO GUIDE ME
   
   Joshua 1:8 (NAB)
   “Keep this Book of the Law on your lips. Recite it by day and by night, that you may carefully follow all that is written in it; THEN you will successfully attain your goal.”



3. I NEED GOD’S PEOPLE TO SUPPORT ME
   
   Ecclesiastes 4:12 (Mes)
   “By yourself you’re unprotected. But with a friend you can face the worst. And a group of three is even better because a rope braided with three strands is not easily snapped!”

This week in your small group (Intro)
How to set personal goals in faith & The 3 secrets of achieving any goal
Bring your journal to your group AND weekends!