What Does the Bible Say About Setting Goals?

Some Christians think goal-setting contradicts faith. They believe planning ahead shows a lack of trust in God's sovereignty. This misunderstands both sovereignty and stewardship. The Bible teaches that God plans, and He expects us to plan too.

God Has a Plan for Your Life

Ephesians 1:5 tells us, "he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will." God set goals before you drew your first breath. He planned your adoption, your salvation, and your place in His family.

Ephesians 2:10 continues, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." God prepared specific good works for you to accomplish. He created you with intention and purpose. Your life follows His design, which means you should approach your days with intentionality that reflects His planning.

God Wants You to Have a Plan

Proverbs 6:6-8 commands, "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest." The ant has no boss, no manager, no supervisor. Yet she plans ahead. She stores food during summer to prepare for winter. God holds her up as a model of wisdom.

If God tells you to imitate the ant's planning, then planning honors Him. You should think ahead about your finances, your work, your family, and your spiritual growth. The person who drifts through life without goals wastes the stewardship God gave him.

Laziness Prevents Goal-Setting

Proverbs 6:9-11 continues, "How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man."

The sluggard makes excuses. He postpones planning. He tells himself he will start tomorrow, next week, next month. Meanwhile, poverty creeps in like a thief. One major obstacle to financial goal-setting is simple laziness. Planning requires effort. It demands that you sit down, think clearly, calculate numbers, and commit to action. Many people avoid goal-setting because they would rather scroll through their phones or watch television.

Goal-Setting Should Start from Humility

James 4:13-14 warns, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."

The problem here is not planning. The problem is planning without humility. These people make confident declarations about their future profits without acknowledging God. They assume they control tomorrow. James reminds them they control nothing. Your life is a mist—brief, fragile, temporary.

This should humble you when you set goals. You do not know if you will live to see next year. You do not know if the economy will collapse, if you will get sick, or if God will redirect your path completely. Make plans, but hold them loosely.

Avoid Two Errors in Goal-Setting

James 4:13 and 15 shows two common mistakes. Some people set "no goals with God," adopting a passive attitude they call faith. They claim to "let go and let God" while doing nothing themselves. This violates the command to imitate the ant. God expects you to plan and work.

Others set "goals with no God." They plan meticulously, but they leave God out of the equation entirely. They trust their own wisdom, their own strength, and their own strategies. This shows pride, and God opposes the proud.

The right approach combines both: "Instead you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'" Make specific plans, then submit those plans to God's will. Acknowledge that He may change your direction at any moment, and determine to follow wherever He leads.

Goal-Setting Should Reflect God's Will

Proverbs 16:9 teaches, "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." You plan, then God establishes. You lay out a path, then God directs your actual steps. This does not make your planning worthless. Your planning positions you to follow God's leading. The person who never plans has no steps for God to establish.

Matthew 6:33-34 instructs, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Your primary goal must be God's kingdom and His righteousness. When you order your life around that central purpose, God adds what you need. Your financial goals, your career goals, and your family goals should all serve this higher purpose. If they do not, adjust them until they do.

Paul's Example of Biblical Goal-Setting

The apostle Paul set clear, specific goals. In Romans 1:11-13, he planned to visit Rome to encourage the believers there. In Romans 15:17-24, he aimed to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, and he planned a trip to Spain with a stop in Rome. In 1 Corinthians 16:1-9, he organized a collection for Jerusalem and mapped out his travel schedule through Macedonia and Ephesus.

Paul also pursued spiritual goals. Philippians 3:12-14 shows his determination: "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Paul made plans, worked hard, and pursued specific objectives. Yet he always submitted to God's will. In 1 Thessalonians 2:17-18, he explained that Satan hindered him from visiting. In 1 Corinthians 16:7, he wrote, "I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits." Paul planned, but he recognized that God ultimately controlled the outcome.

Follow Paul's example. Set clear financial goals. Write them down. Make strategies to achieve them. Then hold those plans with open hands, ready to adjust when God redirects your steps.