A Lesson in Goals

Scripture Verse that caught my attention today: John 6:69 [Peter said] “We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Observation: Faith is a process.

Application: At the conference this week there was a segment that distinguished process-oriented goals from results-oriented goals.

In short, process-oriented goals are goals related to establishing processes that are sound and true and that, most importantly, leave the results up to God.

For example, I cannot make you love me more. That’s beyond my control. But I can act in loving ways toward you, endeavor to think in loving ways about you and speak in loving ways about you and then strive to be content to let the chips then fall wherever they may. I can leave the results up to the working of God.

If you love me, great. If not, well, perhaps it’s just not yet the right time or, perhaps, it will in this case never be the right time. Sad but sometimes true; the actual return of your love is beyond my control.

I find it interesting that even Jesus seemed content to focus on process rather than results. Those who chose to no longer follow him (verse 66 says “many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him”) Jesus allowed to go. And he didn’t place demands on the 12 disciples that were left either. He simply inquired, to which Peter replied as indicated in the verse I chose this week, “we have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Even then Jesus didn’t completely focus on results. He correctly noted that he himself chose them and implied that he himself trained them, but went on to note that one of them (Judas) was not really onboard.

The results did not deter Jesus. He was focused on process, a process that led to the cross and, through which, many, many more have come to believe that he is the Holy One of God.

Prayer: Lord, thanks for involving us in your process. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: 2 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 34, and John 6)