4 Powerful Advantages Christians Have in Goal Setting According to the Bible
How Setting Goals as a Christian Can Transform Your Life
Once I realized that goal setting and the Bible go hand in hand, my entire life changed. I am not perfect, and I still set godly goals that I don’t always achieve, but the percentages are increasing. This has been a faith-building and encouraging experience.
Imagine Living a Purpose-Driven Life in Christ
Imagine what your life would be like if you set God-directed goals and, with His help, started achieving them one after another. Imagine if thousands and then millions of believers did the same in every key area of their lives. How would that change them? How would it transform the Christian church and the world?
The more I walk this path, the more I realize that setting goals as a Christian gives us far greater potential for success than anyone else. Why? Because when we align our goal setting with God’s purposes and take action from an ongoing, abiding in Christ reality, then God Himself works with us to achieve those goals.
1. God Gives Us Purpose-Driven Goals and Works with Us to Achieve Them
God is a purpose-driven, goal-setting being, and He created us to be the same.
Isaiah 46:10b (ESV) states, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.”
Isaiah 46:11b (ESV) continues, “I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”
God acts on purpose and is committed to fulfilling His plans. While we don’t have His unlimited power or perfect vision, Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) reminds us that He has already prepared good works for us to walk in.
That is Christian advantage #1: God will give us goals and work with us to achieve them.
2. We Understand How God Fulfills His Promises in Goal-Setting
When we study the stories in the Bible, we recognize how God works to fulfill His purposes and the goals He gives His people. One recurring pattern is that God’s promises often require faith and patience before they come to pass.
For example, when God gave Abraham the promises of blessing the nations through his descendants and giving them the land of Israel (Genesis 12 & 15, ESV), these promises were not fulfilled immediately. Abraham had to trust God over time.
We learn that when God speaks, His promises are already established in the spiritual realm. However, their fulfillment in our lives often requires persistence and faith. Understanding this biblical principle helps us stay steadfast in setting goals as a Christian and trusting God’s timing.
3. We Can Set Goals Based on God’s Word, Not Just Human Ambition
Secular goal-setting often promotes self-reliance:
“If you can see it, you can be it.”
“Create your future—you are the captain of your ship.”
But as followers of Jesus Christ, we don’t set goals based on personal ambition alone. Instead, we build our lives on God’s word and promises.
Habakkuk 2:2 (ESV) instructs us to “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.”
Instead of chasing dreams based on fleeting desires, we ask God what He wants us to focus on in this season. Then, we look for scriptural promises that align with those godly goals. Sometimes, the promise itself becomes the goal!
When a verse speaks to us, we can trust that God is saying, “Believe Me for this.” There is no firmer foundation than God’s holy word and His faithfulness.
4. Faith in God Strengthens Our Ability to Achieve His Goals
Over the past year, I’ve been studying how God uses His promises to accomplish His will. I’ve become more convinced than ever that faith in God’s faithfulness is key to achieving purpose-driven goals.
Isaiah 55:10–11 (ESV) declares that God watches over His word to perform it. He takes what He says seriously and ensures that His promises come to pass.
A powerful example is Abraham and Sarah. God promised them a son, even when it seemed impossible.
Romans 4:18 (NASB95): “In hope against hope he believed, SO THAT he might BECOME a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken.”
Romans 4:21 (ESV): “And being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.”
Hebrews 11:11 (NASB95): “By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, SINCE SHE CONSIDERED HIM FAITHFUL WHO HAD PROMISED.”
Sarah believed in God’s faithfulness and received supernatural ability to conceive when it was physically impossible. This is how faith in God’s promises unlocks new goal-setting possibilities in our lives.
Conclusion: Use These Biblical Goal-Setting Advantages to Change the World
The Bible reveals four powerful advantages God gives believers in goal-setting and the Bible:
God gives us goals and helps us achieve them.
We understand His timing and how He fulfills promises.
We base our goals on God’s Word, not just human ambition.
Faith in God strengthens our ability to reach His goals for us.
When we unite faith in God’s promises with biblical goal-setting principles, we step into greater realms of possibility. It is God’s faithfulness that ensures the fulfillment of His plans in our lives.
Let’s embrace these Christian goal-setting advantages to transform our lives and impact the world for Jesus Christ!
My goal is to help busy believers experience God more deeply, grow consistently—both spiritually and personally—and confidently live out their unique purpose.