Are Your Goals Really Worth Pursuing?
What is a goal? What is its purpose? Will reaching that goal be worth it in the end? A goal, by definition is: an idea of a future result that you plan and work to achieve. The purpose of a goal is to provide clear direction, focus your energy, and serve as a roadmap for what you want to achieve. In the business world, attempts have often been made to persuade people to make goals for their own advancement. I remember being forced to go to a seminar in which the idea of “SMART” goals was introduced. The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable (or Attainable), Relevant (or Realistic), and Time-Bound (or Timely). This system helps turn vague dreams into clear plans with real deadlines.
These five parts can be broken down as follows: Specific: State clearly what you want to do. Answer who, what, where, and why. Measurable: Use numbers or percentages to track your progress. Know when you reach the finish line. Achievable: Make sure the goal is actually doable. Check if you have the right skills and tools. Relevant: Pick goals that fit your main life or work values. Ask why this goal matters right now. Time-Bound: Put a clear end date or deadline on the calendar. This creates urgency and focus.
All of this works well with earthly goals. If one has a clear idea of what they want to achieve, can gauge how close they are, doesn’t reach beyond their capacity, chooses appropriate objectives, and knows how long they have to accomplish these things, success is almost guaranteed. There have been many businessmen and entrepreneurs that have used these and similar methods to become wealthy, important, and influential.
But what good is any of this in the great scheme of things? A person might attain greatness and earthly acclaim but the reward for earthly goals that are attained cannot be taken with us. While some goals may be very necessary to navigate life, many earthly goals aren’t worth pursuing. Why spend life gaining that which will be left behind when we die? Why not spend life striving to reach a goal worth pursuing in this life & beyond?
The only goal that is worth pursuing is an eternal one. Yes, one can also apply the S.M.A.R.T. anachronym in pursuit in reaching this goal. Heaven as a goal is quite specific. In John 14:3, Jesus promised His apostles that He would “come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” 1Pet. 1:4 speaks of an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,. Our desire and intent should be to spend eternity in heaven. If we become the children of God through obedience, we can measure our progress. As we live here on earth, we measure our growth in many areas. In 1Pet. 2:2 we learn that we are to “desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”. And in 2Pet. 3:18 we are admonished – “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” One can measure growth in Christ and their knowledge of His Word as they live in accordance with it.
The goal of heaven is also achievable. Was it not promised by the Spirit in 1John 2:25? This was written to those that had obeyed the gospel and were “in Christ” - And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. And in 2Cor 5:1, that same Spirit had Paul write that if our earthly tabernacle (our bodies) are dissolved, “we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” If heaven was not attainable, would it have been promised in God’s Holy Word? This goal of making it to heaven is certainly relevant. Why does this goal matter presently? Because it is a prize. In Phil. 3:12-14, the Spirit had the apostle Paul affirm that he had not already attained this, neither had he yet apprehended it, so he made this his main life goal and continued to “press toward the mark for the prize”. To do this, one must, as Col. 3:2 directs, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”.
And there should be an urgency in pursuit of this goal. The final letter in the anachronym S.M.A.R.T. is T and this stands for Time bound. 2Cor. 6:2 informed the Corinthian brethren of that day, “behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”. Of course, in context, this is speaking of the present and final dispensation of time. However, this does have application to us in that we also live in these “last days”. And we should also be reminded of the warning of Jas. 4:14, in that we don’t even know if we will see another tomorrow. “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
What then? Will the goals we set, or the goals which we achieved in this life be of any value? Will they be profitable to us (our soul) after we have shed these mortal bodies? Not if we haven’t set eternal goals. We are told in 1Cor. 15:19 in the discussion about resurrection from the dead, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” Why be unhappy here and for eternity? What benefit is it to be happy here on earth and be miserable for eternity? A brief examination of Luke 16:19-26 should answer this for everyone.
A - S.M.A.R.T. - goal for eternity doesn’t negate happiness in this life. In fact it has benefit in the present and beyond. In 1Tim 4:8, the Spirit had Paul tell Timothy (and us), “but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”. Those goals which have no profit beyond this life are not really worth pursuing, are they?
Dennis Strickland – Mooresville church of Christ
