Hot Date
Last week I sat across from my wife on a hot date at the Cheesecake Factory. We were about to order our favorite foods when she asked what goals we could make for the new year, which I thought was awesome. Every new year is a new chance to become a better person.

It was fun to dream about our upcoming year, including 5k’s, inviting more people over, and finding new ways to give. We’re still trying to nail down the specifics, but it was great to get the conversation started.

Thinking
I’ve ended up thinking a lot about goals this past week. We set goals for our physical health (lose weight, eat better), mental health (read more, watch less t.v.), and social health (work harder, be a better parent). But, what about our spiritual health? I asked a group of leaders the other day to rate their spiritual health for the past year on a 5 point scale (1 = boo, 5 = awesome). I gave myself a 3 for 2014 and want to do better this year.

How would you rate your overall spiritual health from 2014?

1          2         3          4          5

The Things We Do
As I considered what spiritual goals to set for 2015, here’s what I considered:

• What I do that helps me feel closest to God
• What I could do to help me become more like Jesus
• How could I increase my overall health (a healthier David more easily connects with God)

Answering these questions helped me determine goals to help me grow spiritually this year.

Developing Your List
As you answer these questions for yourself, here’s a list of ways you could connect with God better this year.

• Spend more time in nature
• Have more spiritual conversations with friends
• Give more money consistently
• Journal more often
• See a counselor to help heal hurts from your past
• Choose one characteristic you’d like to focus on and grow in
• Read more (certain number of books)
• Set aside time each week to rest
• Commit to going to God more often in times of need
• When stressed, stop going to X and instead run to Jesus (work towards breaking those habits)
• Ask God to increase your love for others this year
• Find a new way to serve
• Try fasting (refraining from food for a certain period of time)
• Memorize a certain number of scriptures
• Commit to spending time with God everyday (5 minutes, 15 minutes, in the morning, on your way to work)
• Share with God the Highs and Lows of your day everyday and ask for his help
• Fulfill a lifelong dream (We can feel closer to God as we reach towards our full potential)
• Choose a book of the Bible you’d like to read everyday. You could choose a number of books from the Bible you’d like to finish in the next 3 months.
• Attend church consistently
• Get involved at church

Consider what things you could do this year that would help you grow spiritually. Choose 1-3 you think you could do.

 My List
Here’s my list:

• Exercise (I find an exercising David connects with God better than a slothful David. I’m going to sign up for a race soon to help motivate me in this area.)
• Memorize 30 scriptures (The more scriptures live in my heart, the easier it is to hear God and connect with Him)
• Read 25 books (When I’m reading and learning, I’m growing. I find I connect with God best as I learn, think, and reflect)

Take Action
This is the hardest part. But, decide to take your first steps today to develop yourself spiritually this year. Let’s not let 2015 look like 2014. If it’ll help, write your spiritual goals for 2015 in the comments below. Sometimes writing goals down will help you move towards making it happen.

 

On a side note, I would like to share that although partaking of my favorite meal in the entire world – Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta at the Cheesecake Factory did not contribute towards my 2015 goal of being more healthy, it did help in other ways. It gave me a great night out with my wife, and always brings great joy to my heart. It may also have the unintended consequence of bringing a few inches to my waste, but 2015 is a new year and that can change. Let’s get it started!