Written By: Alora Yee
It’s the beginning of a new year. So what do we do? We create vision boards and set resolutions to shift the old into the glamorous new. New meaning, better, bigger, bolder. What does scripture have to say about making such commitments?
“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
James 4:13-15
I personally believe it’s more than okay to set goals in life. It’s good to want to be more intentional and skilled at whatever vocation God gives us. To be a better wife, a better mother, learn how to better invest our finances, and even to learn to have better boundaries inside and outside the workplace.
But what can we say about vision boards, manifesting the things and relationships we want? I see much of this in Christian circles. I see the motivational speakers out there promoting quizzes on self-discovery and to be quite honest, self-worship. We are to worship God alone. We are to serve Christ alone.
It is not the planning which is an issue, but who are we planning for? And why? What’s the end goal?
Jesus mentions “counting the cost” on one occasion.
“Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’”
Luke 14:27-30 CSB
Who are we making these goals for? Are they for God’s kingdom? Are they to glorify our Lord? Or to glorify self? Can we truly answer “no” when asked if our vision boards and resolutions glorify ourselves? Are we simply coveting all the things we want and desire?
It’s good to ask ourselves questions to gauge, “why”. And it’s even better to ask God in prayer to seek our hearts. A dangerous prayer, but an effective one that will truly transform our lives.
“Backsliding starts with a dusty Bible” -Charles Spurgeon
True statement.
I understand “just read your Bible more” is not going to fix all of your problems. This statement “just read your Bible more” can also be used as a cop-out to not have to put in the actual work of discipling one another and loving on them with grace, crying with them, and pursuing that long-suffering so rare at times in this world.
God requires obedience. God requires endurance from us. He requires us to take action and accountability in our lives. However, only through scripture can we be truly equipped in discerning God’s will for our lives. Only through scripture will we find right and wrong. Only through scripture will we find our ultimate identity and purpose which is Jesus.
Let us seek God’s will for our life in scripture. Let us count the cost of following Christ and by taking inventory with discernment of what He has already given us, stay obedient to Him alone. Let our hearts be renewed.
Praise His name.
