Spiritual Goals

One of the things I have always thought was important is to make goals for yourself. As I said before, I am not a fan of New Years Resolutions. However, I do like to set goals.

What's the difference? The biggest problem with making a New Years Resolution is that it's expected to be broken. Let's be honest, how many of you have already broken your resolution? Probably quite a few. It's considered acceptable to break it. No one is going to be mad at the person who wanted to lose weight in January and is eating ice cream in February. Why? Because we knew they would probably never stick to it.

A goal is something you work toward. You aren't expected to be perfect at it right away. When you fail at working toward your goal, you are held accountable. Plus, it's ok to get back up and try it again. That's why I am a bigger fan of setting goals.

My Spiritual Goals for 2010:

1. Pray every day.
This may sound like an easy goal, but for me it's not. My life is so busy that it is very easy to just say, "That's ok. I'll pray tomorrow." It's not ok. God shouldn't have to be worked in around a schedule. Case in point, I usually pray right before I go to bed. I'll lay down, say my prayer, then close my eyes and go to sleep. The last few weeks I have been exceedingly tired. Last night, I laid down to pray and fell asleep right in the middle of it! I woke up this morning and thought "Oh no! I fell asleep!" I immediately apologized to God and said my prayer before getting up for the day. So, my goal is to pray every day for at least 10 minutes BEFORE getting up in the morning. This way I have no excuses later in the day for not doing it.

2. Read the Bible more.
I don't read the scriptures as much as I should. I used to read every day, but as my life has gotten busier, Bible reading took the fall. My goal is to read a chapter of the Bible every other day. Maybe as time goes on I can make it every day.

3. To give my problems to God without grouching about the outcome.
I am a control freak! I like to plan ahead and always know how, when, and why things are happening the way they are. In fact, I often get angry when I don't know the details of something. (Hint - don't ever throw a surprise party for me. I'll bite your head off! Just sayin...) God doesn't work that way. I have a really bad habit of telling God about a problem and then saying, "and here's how I'd like you to handle it." Umm... no! It just doesn't happen that way. I have no doubt that God answers my prayers. He often doesn't give me the answer I want, but he answers them. When I encounter problems this year, I want to be able to hand them over to God and say "You take care of it. I'll be happy with whatever you choose."

4. To worship more freely
I am not a touchy, feely, in your face kind of person. I'm pretty shy with those I don't know. For example, during the altar call, Pastor J likes to have the congregation hold hands and pray for each other. Every time he does, I just freak out and go "Oh no! I have to touch someone I don't know!" I have no clue why I'm this way, but I am.
I love music and singing, but I rarely do this in front of people. When I was younger, I wanted to take piano lessons desperately. I said a prayer to God and told him that if he could provide me with the lessons and materials to learn to play, that I would play in church for him. He answered my prayer. My father found a really nice old man named Mr. Kilmer Spencer, who gave me lessons for free out of the kindness of his own heart. He gave me an old keyboard, and taught me the best he could. But I never played in church. I was always too shy. I took lessons again in college. Once again, I was too shy to play in front of people. Now, I haven't played in five years. I didn't keep my end of the bargain, and eventually God closed that door for me.
My goal is to not care about what others think and finally use the talents that God gave me to glorify him. This doesn't mean that I'm going to join the worship team or anything. What it does mean is that I won't be afraid to sing my praises out loud or clap my hands. I'll grab the hand of the person next to me and pray for them even if it makes me uncomfortable. I'm going to try very hard to make a difference this year in whatever way I can.

So, these are my goals.

What are you spiritual goals for 2010?