Education Goals

As we look this week at Education related goals, let’s start by looking at the opposite of education: ignorance.

Ignorance is defined as a lack of knowledge or information.

Paul, on multiple occasions throughout the Bible, says something to the effect of, “I do not want you to be unaware/uninformed” about mysteries of the Gospel, about spiritual gifts, about God’s works, about actions and events in his and his companions’ lives, etc…

There is a common saying in society, “ignorance is bliss,” which is a way of conveying the idea that if you don’t know about something you aren’t worried or anxious about it, and that it can be better to be ignorant and happy than informed and scared. 

Growth Goals

The next goal topic that we are going to look at in this series is that of growth goals. Growth is defined as several things:

• the process of increasing in physical size.

• the process of increasing in amount, value, or importance.

• the process of developing or maturing physically, mentally, or spiritually.

It’s that last one that I am going to talk about here. So, first off, what are some of your growth goals? These can take the shape of goals designed to make you a better person, sibling, child, friend, student, Christian, etc… Often they have to do with character and attitude, how you react and respond to situations. Are you impulsive or contemplative? Are you assertive? Are you goal oriented? Are you angry? Are you vindictive? Are you self-focused? Community-focused? God-focused? Are you helpful? Are you kind? Growth goals can also take the shape of goals designed to improve your ability in a certain area? That may be sports or hobby related. It may be relational and communicative. It may be educational. It may be spiritual. It may be business related. If growth is the “process of developing or maturing” or “increasing in … value, or importance” then growth related goals are all goals that are designed and intended to make you better, more mature and more qualified in a certain area.

Health Goals

One of the most common goals that people set at the New Year, and at other times, is a health related goal. Usually this takes the form of “I want to lose weight” Sometimes it is left at that, and sometimes it is more specific, “I want to lose 15 pounds.” Then, steps are added to accomplish the goal. “I’m going to walk/run/workout for 30 minutes a day.” “I’m going to start this or that diet.” “I’m going to cut out sugar/fats/carbs/sodas/candy/etc…” Sometimes the health related goals are more fitness related or targeted to a specific sport or objective. “I want to lift x pounds.” “I want to run x distance at x speed.” “I want more strength/endurance.” Even things like “I want to get more sleep/drink more water/be outside more/have less stress.” are health related goals. Health related goals are some of the most prevalent for several reasons.

Firm Foundation

As we start a new year a lot of people are going to make resolutions and goals. Honestly, a week into the new year, a lot of those resolutions and goals are probably already broken, but regardless, this is the time when people take a look at their lives and make decisions about the types of things they want to change or remove or improve on. While there’s not really anything special about the start of a new year, we still take this time to examine ourselves, and even if we don’t “officially” make any New Year’s Resolutions we still probably all can identify things in ourselves that we like and want to fortify and make stronger, things that we want/need to improve on, and things that we want to change or just get rid of entirely. These may be skill sets, or attitudes, or habits, or mindsets, or relationships, or activities, etc… 

So, how about you, what do you want to accomplish this year? What do you want to get rid of? What do you want to add? What do you want to change? Do you have health related goals, education related goals, sports related goals, family or friend related goals, God related goals? Take a minute to think about this, and take note of everything that comes to your mind, regardless of how huge or small it may seem.

Intentionality & Consistency

With the start of a new year most people look at it as a clean slate, an opportunity to make a fresh start, to forget the flaws and failures and hardships and mishaps of the previous year and to set new goals and resolutions. It's an opportunity to dream of what you want to accomplish, of the type of life you want to live, of the skills you want to possess, of the kind of person that you want to be (in your family, with your friends, at your job, with God), of the health and fitness level you want to attain, etc… We start every new year excited and energized for what we think it's going to bring and who we think we are going to be when it comes to a close next December 31st.