Paul's take on Goals

We are given some guidance by Paul to have a definite goal. He tells us in 1 Cor 9:26 to NOT "run uncertainly" or just "beat the air." If you have ever started running long distances (or any distance for that matter.) You know it's not the running you enjoy. It's best to have a specific goal in mind - a big race, a target distance, something important. If the goal is not big enough, it is very easy to quit because there is not "magic." If you want to loose 2 pounds, it's easy to tell your self i can cut back on my portion sizes at meal time. If the goal is to great, it may seem unattainable. Then it's easy to give by saying it was an impossible goal to begin with. If you are 50 pounds over weight and cant walk to the mailbox much less run, running the marathon next month is not realistic. But, running to the end of the road may be.

Goals must be specific. You cant just beat the air and hope your apponent runs in ftont of a punch. I saw that in an MMA fight last night. To often i hear poeple who want to get into shape. What's "Shape?" Lets face it "round" is a shape. And I'm already in that shape. I want to loose 65 pounds over the next 12 months. That goal is specific. There is an amount and a timeframe. It is easly measured. I have a scale and a calender.

But the real criticale part of goals is the "WHY!!!" Face it. If you do not have a reason to lose weight, save money, start a business, go back to school, or whatever else, then IT DON'T MATTER!!!! YOU WILL NOT DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR NO REASON. Sorry, I was yelling. But it's true. You have to have a "Why!" or the "How" is irelevant. We run for the PRIZE not because we love the pain of running. At some point you may love to run. But we start because of the prize. And the prize needs to be large enough to be seen beyond any obsticle that is in front of us. When the going gets tough, only the person that sees the prize will keep going.


Here is how Paul puts it.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] {and} make it yours. Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately {and} restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither. Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air {and} striking without an adversary. But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel {and} things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit]. 1 Cor 9:24-27 (Amplified)