Do you set personal goals for yourself?
My Personal Goals: A Journey of Faith
A life without goals is aimless, hollow, and meaningless. So my answer to today’s prompt is: Yes, I do have goals—a series of milestones to be achieved one by one, until I fulfill the fruit-bearing life expected of a born-again believer in Christ.
Goals steer a life; they give direction to our actions. Prophet Moses’s goal was divine—to lead the Israelites out of the house of slavery in Egypt. The Lord Jesus Christ’s goal was to fulfill the ultimate atoning sacrifice, a complete propitiation for the salvation of the world. And Apostle Paul’s destiny was transformed by the Lord Jesus, leading him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Each ran towards a finish line set before him—and so must I.
What, then, is my personal goal? Compared to the Lord of lords, the faithful prophets, and the apostles, mine is insignificant and not worth mentioning. But for the sake of this prompt, I will reveal it here: to be a child pleasing to God, a faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus, and a joyous temple to the indwelling Holy Spirit.
That third goal deserves a word of its own. To be a temple is not merely to host the Spirit but to be reshaped by Him, to let His fruit grow—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). A fruit-bearing life, then, is not measured by milestones alone but by what ripens in me along the way. The finish line is completeness; the fruit is the evidence that I am on the road.
Though insignificant in the grandest context, realising my goal is easier said than done. Moses had forty years to lead the Israelites out of the wilderness into the Promised Land; Paul had about thirty years to open the foreign frontiers of evangelism. But I have a lifetime to surpass trials and persecutions, to bear fruit in a fallen world, and to testify to salvation by faith in Jesus, the Son of the living God.
I was brought up in a culture where the saying goes, “He who does not avenge a wrong is not a true gentleman.” But this runs contrary to the Lord Jesus’ teaching on retaliation (Matthew 5:39). To uplift Jesus’ virtue against cultural differences is a tough challenge. Yet God’s children must transform their lives into the likeness of Jesus. What Jesus endured on earth, His disciples will follow. He is the best role model to emulate, surpassing all traditions, cultures, and values.
At the workplace, like many upright people, I used to endure backstabbing and slander—a prevalent culture in many workplaces. By grace, these trials made me mature, and with God-given wisdom, I overcame some unbearable challenges (James 1:2-5).
Today, I abide by the Lord’s teaching of not getting mad and not getting even, because He is the Lord of vengeance (Romans 12:19). What I am aiming for next is the milestone of completeness and blamelessness at the finish line—”let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).
So may God the Father help me to resist evil, but not an evil person; to resist vengeance, but not a slap on my cheek. Continue Your building of me to become a child pleasing to You.
