3 Steps to Realize the Improvements You Desire
As we move into the new year, many people make New Year’s resolutions, a practice I’ve criticized on many occasions. I’ve never been a fan of resolutions. Instead I set goals. These goals help me move forward into a better tomorrow.
Some of my goals are for work (my writing). Others are financial. It’s also important to set spiritual goals and personal goals. The intent of each of these is to realize future improvements in our life, situation, and circumstances.
This helps us move into a better tomorrow. Here are three steps to realize the improvements that we desire.
Plan
The first step to move into a better tomorrow is to plan for it. Without a plan, you will falter (Proverbs 29:18). Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying that if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
We just can’t hope our life will improve and then sit back to wait for it to happen. We need to set goals. We need a plan.
For some people planning comes easy. They set goals and then decide what steps they must do to reach those goals.
As we set goals, we are wise to make sure they are SMART goals. SMART is a mnemonic acronym to remind us that achievable goals must be specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely.
As we do this, we should give all that we do to God and let him establish our plans (Proverbs 16:3).
Pray
Planning is a great first step in seeking a better tomorrow.
We need to turn our plans over to God (James 4:13-17) and trust him with the outcome (Psalm 25:1). This involves prayer (Philippians 4:6 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Praying and planning work together as partners. Just as it would be shortsighted to plan and not pray, it’s foolish to pray and not plan.
But there’s one more step. It’s crucial.
Act
Our third step to move into a better tomorrow is to act. We can’t just plan and pray and then expect everything to work out.
For example, having a plan to lose weight is a good start. But if we don’t change our diet or add exercise to our life, our plans to lose weight will fail.
Praying without action dishonors God. It’s expecting him to do everything for us, with no effort on our part.
Instead, we should do what we can do to bring about a better tomorrow and then trust the rest to God. This puts our faith into action (James 2:17).
Realize a Better Tomorrow
If we want to realize a better tomorrow, there are three steps to take to move toward the improvements we seek.
First, we must plan for what we want to achieve. Second, we must turn our plans over to our Lord and pray for God to grant us success. Third, we must do what we can do to bring about the changes we desire.
In this way, when we plan, pray, and act, we will move toward a better tomorrow.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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