Living with Purpose: Setting God-Sized Goals

“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” Ephesians 3:20 (MSG)

The Bible tells us that Jesus set goals. In fact, he often announced publicly what his goal was for the next phase of his ministry.

So why should I set goals? There are six reasons to set goals, here are the first three.

I need to set goals because it is a spiritual responsibility.
If I don’t have goals, I have already decided to let other people run my life. In other words, when I don’t decide in advance what’s important, I'm letting other people decide for me. I end up wasting my life because I never clarify how I want to grow as a follower of Christ.

The Bible says that to be spiritually mature, I need to set a goal and move toward it—always keeping my eyes focused on it. The apostle Paul said it this way:

“I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. . . . I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done. All of us who are mature should think in this same way” (Philippians 3:12, 14-15 CEV).

I need to set goals because they are statements of faith.
If I'm a believer in Jesus Christ and I set a goal, I'm saying, “I believe that God wants me to accomplish this by this time. This is what I believe God is going to do in my life.”

Goals aren’t just statements of faith; they also stretch my faith. The bigger my goal, the more my faith will be stretched. And that pleases God.

The Message paraphrase of Ephesians 3:20 says, “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (MSG).

I need to set goals because they focus my energy.
Focus is the key to an effective life. If my energy is scattered across too many things, I end up making little to no impact. But if I focus my life, it’s going to be powerful—and it can change the world.

Besides I don’t have time to do everything. But here’s the good news: God doesn’t expect me to! The key to being effective in life as a man of God is to do what matters most and forget everything else. Goals help me maintain that kind of focus.

That’s why Paul put it this way about living with focus and purpose: “I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26 NCV). 

So I'm to stay focused on my goals and ask God to guide as I commit to living out his purpose for my life.

In summary:

Setting goals is a vital spiritual practice that reflects my commitment to living purposefully for God. Jesus modeled goal-setting, and Scripture encourages believers to do the same to grow in maturity, express faith, and focus their energy. Without clear goals, I risk letting others dictate my priorities and wasting the life God gave me. When I set goals in faith, I'm declaring my trust that God can do far more than I could imagine, as Ephesians 3:20 reminds us. Goals not only stretch my faith but also sharpen my focus, helping me live effectively and intentionally. Like Paul, I'm called to run with purpose and pursue the prize of God’s calling in Christ.