CHOOSING A GOAL FOR LIFE
CHỌN MỤC TIÊU CHO ĐỜI SỐNG
Kinh thánh: Thi thiên 147: 1-14
Câu gốc: CHÂM NGÔN 21: 3 – Làm theo sự công bình và ngay thẳng, được đẹp lòng Đức Giê-hô-va hơn của tế lễ.
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CHOOSING A GOAL FOR LIFE
Bible: Psalm 147: 1-14
Main verse: PROVERBS 21: 3 – To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
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We always need a goal to aim for. It’s normal. There are many different goals for people to choose from and it depends on the personal interest of each person.
Parents can choose a goal for their children when they are born, but as they grow up, they will have different goals for themselves. They could have short-term goals and long-term goals. An example of a long-term goal is in the Bible:
1TIMOTHY 1: 5-6 – Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned, from which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling.
This verse can also be applied to how parents bring up their children, but today we will only consider what is the proper lifetime goal for us Christians.
We can see in real life that people don’t often have a specific goal for their lives. They usually have the same goal which is to have as much money as possible and to indulge themselves in human pleasures. Other people may want to be famous or have more power over others.
Another goal that humans often have is to be healthy, but this goal is hard to achieve because of human’s personal interest in unhealthy behaviors like drinking, smoking, drug use, multi-partner relations and the likes.
We Christians are the sons and daughters of God, so we should choose a proper lifetime goal, like faith, which can bring us lifetime happiness and eternal life in the future. To determine a proper lifetime goal for ourselves, we should first consider the cons of other goals that people usually choose for themselves in this life.
As we have mentioned before, one of the popular goal that people usually choose for themselves is to have as much money as possible. Everyone knows that money can bring almost everything to the person who have it, and the Bible also recognizes that:
ECCLESIASTES 10: 19 – A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.
Because of this, people always want to have as much money as possible, even billionaires who have more than enough for their lifetime never actually stop seeking more money for themselves. We knows money is a necessity, but when a person becomes greedy for money, it can lead to crimes:
1TIMOTHY 6: 10 – For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
We can see that almost all of the crimes that humans have committed from the ancient time are originated from greed for money. It’s not only the poor who committed crimes for money, but even the rich did the same though they already have more than enough to last a lifetime.
Money cannot bring happiness to the ones who have it, because we can see that even the rich have broken marriages, broken families and a messy life for themselves. They divorced many times, although they married models and beautiful celebrities. They went into rehab many times and some are drug abusers. Many of them died because of drug overdose. We can find a lot of examples on the news around the world.
Therefore money is not a proper goal for God’s children. God has promised that He will look after us when we are in need. God will never forget His children:
HEBREWS 13: 5 – Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
1TIMOTHY 6: 9 – But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
The other two goals that many people have are to be famous and to have power over others, and because of that, many people are willing to commit crimes or dishonoring themselves to have them, like career politicians and the people of the entertainment industry. We can see a lot of examples in politics and on the internet nowadays.
Because of their greed for power and the crimes they have committed, the Bible lets us know that none of the career politicians will be saved and inherit the eternal life:
1CORINTHIANS 2: 6 – Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought.
The princes of this world in modern day represents the political leaders. They are so different from leaders in the Bible, like David, who truly repented his sin with Bathsheba and his crime to Uriah, her husband, or Daniel who faithfully prayed to God three times a day.
Being famous and having political power doesn’t bring happiness to the ones who have them. We can read their extramarital affairs all over the news and other improper relations, even their crimes to children. Their families are corrupted and none of them are good examples for normal and honest people.
We are God’s children, so we should choose for ourselves a proper goal to aim for in this life and for eternity, too. It’s the goal to please God with an honest, faithful life.
The first reason for us to choose that goal is because we love God. He is our heavenly Father. Children loves their parents, so it’s proper for Christians to love God. When we love God, we will try our best to live a good life according to the Bible’ standards:
1JOHN 5: 2 – By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
The second reason that we should choose this goal is because it’s an eternal goal, not like the short lifetime goals that humans usually have. We understand that when a person chooses for himself the goal of money, fame and political power, he cannot bring them with him when he dies.
1TIMOTHY 6: 7 – For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
ECCLESIASTES 1: 11 – There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
The goal of pleasing God will exist for eternity and it also helps us to achieve the eternal life because God has already confirmed it:
ROMANS 2: 7 – To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.
If we want to please God, we should do good deeds for others to glorify God because He is our Father. It’s always proper for children to do so to their parents:
ISAIAH 1: 17 – Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
1CORINTHIANS 10: 31 – Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
We should live an honest, faithful life to be good witnesses for our heavenly Father:
1THESSALONIANS 4: 3-4 – For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.
We should seek spiritual enrichment to grow our faith in Jesus Christ, so that we will achieve eternal life when He comes to Earth the second time:
COLOSSIANS 3: 1 – If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2CORINTHIANS 4: 18 – While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
To conclude, those four things are what we should try our best to do when we choose the goal of pleasing God, not only on this Earth but for eternity as well. It’s the true and practical faith that Christians should have.
May God help us to be confident to choose this goal. May God give us strength and determination to go for it forever so that we can be rewarded the eternal life in Christ and be happy with God always. Amen.