https://odb.org/2026/10/02/goals-aligned-with-god
Philippians 3:10–16 (NIV): 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
After getting fired from his job without prior notice, Wil became so depressed that he admitted himself into an inpatient mental health facility. Then one day, after weeks with no progress, he was taking his daily walk when his therapist, seeing him, smiled and called out, “I bet I’ll beat you to the community room.” Wil recalls, “That small act triggered something inside of me.” Suddenly he felt he had a purpose. Walking fast, he raced his therapist to the room and won. To his surprise, having one inspiring goal and meeting it gave him hope—a key to his recovery.
The apostle Paul understood the power of a clear goal. “I want to know Christ,” he told church members (Philippians 3:10). He wanted to know the power of the resurrected Jesus, for that power would help the apostle become more like Him. To achieve that aim, Paul followed one strategy: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (vv. 13-14). Feel like you’re falling short? God helps us refocus our goals as we “live up to what we have already attained” in Christ (v. 16). (Patricia Raybon, Our Daily Bread 2nd October 2026)
Having a goal and purpose focusses us to the things that lie ahead and avoids us wandering around aimlessly. More accurately for the latter, we could just be existing day to day, trying to get over one day to the other and what appears to be a blink of an eye, 2026 is nearing the end. A purposeless life is also a life without hope and motivation. That is why when Rick Warren wrote his book, Purpose Driven Life, it was such a hit that when he reverse-tithe his earnings (taking 10% and tithing 90%), he was still quite wealthy.
Having a goal and purpose in life will definitely drive us forward. It gives us the motivation to work full steam ahead to achieve that goal and purpose. For example, if we want to be better at what we do, we work hard refining our craft and crave for exposure and more work. My second son is only 22 going on to 23, and in his first year as a working adult post graduation, he just works through the day until 5.00 am, wakes up at noon, goes to office for meetings and resumes the round the clock cycle, sometimes even on weekends. In the legal field, complex work is the best teacher. A good and complicated M&A transaction will teach us things that will last for our entire legal career.
This morning our focus is however on our goals and purpose that align with Christ. Paul’s goal was to know Christ, the power of the resurrected Christ. Thus he presses on ahead, forgetting what’s behind. I believe whether it is a spiritual or an earthly goal and purpose, God has specific plans and purposes for each and every one of us conceived even before the foundations of the world. Each of us are a unique peg in His the kingdom of grace. We all have our roles to play. Our job is thus to discover what that is and achieve that. A famous preacher once said – when we meet Christ at the Bema Judgment Seat of Christ, one question He will surely ask us is – what did we do with the plans and purposes God had for us? Did we discover and achieve those plans and purposes? Did we do that for all the seasons of our lives? God may have different goals for us when we were young compared to when we are older. What did we do?
Aligning our goals with Christ ultimately may well be just achieving Christ’s spiritual goals for us or it could mean that our earthly goals are not inconsistent with His spiritual goals for us. Or it could be both one and same thing. It is for us to discover in Christ as each of us are unique and special to God!
Have a good weekend as we rest and rejuvenate for the coming week, as we worship Him and lay at His feet and meet Him face to face in the spirit this Sunday! Take Saturday to prepare our hearts and we will have an enriching time come Sunday!
