Now that Christmas has passed and we are in between the gap of one year ending and another beginning, it is a time to reflect on the past year and goals that lay ahead. As a high D personality and an Achiever type in the Enneagram, there is always a tension in this for me between setting aggressive/impressive goals and healthy/balanced goals as a follower of Jesus.

After reading Matthew 22:34-40 today and reflecting on the greatest thing we can do it hit me…

The Pharisees stuck to the law and the rules perfectly, and wanted to make sure everyone else did too. We can get this way with our goals and expectations for ourselves, can’t we? We can get so caught up in what we “should” be doing and all our lists of “supposed to’s” that we miss the whole point.

Jesus narrowed it down for them—love God and love others. That’s it. Our lives, including our goals, should be about loving God and loving others.

Look back over the goal or the word that you set for this new year or season, and ask the Father: “How does this help me love you and love others better?”

If it doesn’t, this might be a good time to reevaluate your goal. Know too, that our goals don’t have to be specifically spiritual to have spiritual implications.

Read Matthew 20:26-28 and note the way Jesus approached His life’s work.