Goals and Priorities

Transcription

1 Goals and Priorities Realizing your goals and priorities while living your life according to God s plan. Before starting these worksheets, sit down and pray. Pray for God to show you what He wants for your life. Ask Him to reveal to you the priorities in your life and how they align with His will. Pray to change your heart to want what He wants for your life. First let s start by listing your priorities. Not the ones that your suppose have but priorities that are actually in place now. (Example of priorities: Family, Work, Money, Self, Spiritual Life) Think for a moment about: what do you invest the most time in, what do you invest the most money in, what do you put the most effort into? The answer to these questions will give you a good idea what you put as a priority in your life. Your Current Priorities Now let s look at what God wants our priorities to be: Our first priority is God The bible says multiple times to Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30, NIV). God calls us to put Him first before everything. Read Matthew 6:25-34 In these verses, God is telling us not to worry about other things but to focus on Him and let Him take care of us. If our focus is on Him then all other things will fall in to place.

2 List some practical applications of things that you can do in your daily life to put God as your first priority (example: daily quiet time): Our second priority is our husband (if you are married). Read Ephesians 5: As married women, it is our priority to be our husband s helpmate (Genesis 2:18). We are instructed, once we get married to leave our family and to become as one with our husband. (Genesis 2:24) God also instructs us to submit to our husbands (Ephesians 5:22). He created Eve from Adam s rib (Genesis 2: 21-23) because He knew Adam needed help. This can be a huge struggle for many women which again goes back to the Garden of Eden. After Eve sinned, God said to her: And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you. (Genesis 3:16, NLT). It is human nature to want to be in control over our husbands but God wants us to submit to our husbands and make them our priority. Now let s list some ways you can honor your husband and make Him your priority (example: daily prayer for your husband):

3 Our third priority is our children (if you have children). Proverbs 22:6 says Start children off on the way they should go and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. -Ephesians 6:4, NIV You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. -Deuteronomy 6:7, ESV God instructs us over and over that our priority is to teach our children about God. It s also important to remember that we are to submit to our husbands in all situations including raising our children. We have to remember God wants our husband to be the head of the household (Ephesians 5:23). List some ways you can make teaching your children about God a priority (example: Read a bible story before bed): Our forth priority is to our extended family. Deuteronomy 5:16 instructs us to honor our father and mother. This is not just a verse you tell your children when they are misbehaving. It holds true for everyone. 1 Timothy 5:8 says Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. I think this is a great reminder that our mission field can be in our own family.

4 List some ways you can make your extended family a priority (example: Invite a family member to church): Our fifth priority is our church family. Fellowship, serving and loving one another in the body of Christ is such a blessing. Galatians 5:13 tells us to serve one another in love. The bible says Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12, NIV). It s so important to come together with other brothers and sisters in Christ. God definitely calls us to make this a priority. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. -1 John 1:7, NIV List some ways you can serve others in the church (example: make a meal for a church member who had been sick) Our sixth priority is the world. God calls each one of us as Christians to tell others about Him and Christ dying on the cross. Jesus instructs his disciples to Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (Mark 16:15)

5 In Matthew 5: Jesus is telling us: You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. List some ways you can make you can teach others about Jesus (example: start a bible study with some neighbors): To review, this is what God wants us to have as priorities in our life. 1. God 2. Husband 3. Children 4. Extended Family 5. Church Family 6. Teaching others about God Now go back and look over what you wrote down for your priorities at the start of these worksheets. Are your priorities in line with what God teaches us? Write down the priorities that you are putting to high up on the list:

6 Are there priorities you haven t thought about yet on this list? There are many things that we make a priority in our life that our not on this list: self, work, career, money, social life. Of course these things are important in life also but they all need to fall under these six priorities. List your priorities that would be after #6: It s important to get priorities in order before making goals. By making goals with your priorities in mind, you can stay on track to accomplish things in your life that align with how you want to live your life. The next set of worksheets will help you realize your goals and how they fit in with your priorities.

7 Goals and Priorities Realizing your goals and priorities while living your life according to God s plan. The best way to start realizing your goals is to brainstorm. I encourage you to take these next few sheets of paper and to write down anything that comes to mind. There are no right and wrong answers! Keep in mind your priorities! Here are some example topics to brainstorm on: Spirituality, Family, Relationships, Financial, Career, Business, Community, Self Family Bible Study Family Spending more time with God as a family Reading a bible story before bed time Making it a priority to go to church as a family Then at the bottom of each sheet there will an area for you to narrow down to five goals you want to try and achieve. Once you have chosen five goals, write down practical ways to help you achieve those goals. (Example: If you chose Family Bible Study as your goal you might write down : Research bible studies for familes online, Discuss with my husband, Go to bookstore and look at bible studies

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