When your goal is for His glory
We’re halfway through the first month of the new year, and while there are probably far less resolutions than normal (living through an ongoing pandemic tends to do that), I am in a group with about 350 women who have RESOLVED to read through God’s in 2022.
Whether our goals and resolutions are for bettering ourselves and things of this world or go beyond that into kingdom purposes, it’s always good to remember that we can reach our goals by creating habits. Habits, however, take time and discipline. I can start a new habit today, but it will take time, and discipline in many cases, for the habit to stick. So, while we’re two weeks in to 2022…we’re just getting started!
Research shows that it takes an average of TWO months (or 66 days) for a behavior to become automatic. That’s two months of being prepared and making the decision every day to continue with your goal in mind. Stick with it through the beginning of March and see the fruit of your labor. (Just a note: Since this post is geared toward our SPIRITUAL goals, that fruit I mentioned has multiple meanings.)
When we set a “normal” goal, we are mostly having to work against ourselves. We want to eat healthy, but we also want that chocolate cake…all of it. We want to exercise, but we also want to sleep in…and relax. We want to get out of debt, but we also want to “add to cart…” a lot. But when we set a HOLY goal, we have another force working against us.
When we set a goal with the purpose of bringing God glory, with the hope of deepening our relationship with the Lord, we can be assured of two things:
The enemy is going to do anything he can to try and STOP us.
The Holy Spirit is on our side and will do anything to HELP us.
So while we are doing everything in our power to be prepared, to give it our all, and to stay the course, we have to remember there is a very real enemy whose number one goal is to hinder us from creating that habit and to stop us from reaching our goal.
With a goal of reading the bible all the way through, Satan knows that we will be spending DAILY time with the Lord, hiding His word in our heart, and growing in our relationship with Him. There is nothing more dangerous to Satan and his evil plans than a believer taking up the sword and going to battle!!
But praise the Lord, we have the Holy Spirit, the helper that Jesus mentioned God was giving to us when he ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit enables us to see the schemes of the enemy, empowers us to stay the course, and enlightens us as we study God’s word.
If you’re interested in reading through the Bible with a group of women who will encourage you along, join us HERE at the Rooted Facebook page.
Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash
