Our Ultimate Goal

Matthew 22:35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Probably the most critical variable in the formula to success is goal-setting. Someone once said regarding the setting of goals: “If you don’t aim for something, you’ll hit nothing every time.” Every day, we see organizations aim at achieving their goals through the use of language like objective(s), purpose, and mission (or mission statement). At the beginning of each year, many individuals set goals in the form of New Year’s Resolutions. There are daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, and yearly goals. I’ve seen three to five year goals, ten year goals, short term goals, long term goals, and even goals that are to be achieved before death. But what is your ultimate goal?

While many believers say that their ultimate goal is to make it to heaven, there is a more definitive objective that Jesus wants us to aim for on our journey there. Although accepting and confessing Jesus Christ as our Lord and personal Savior according to Romans 10:9 is our ticket to heaven, it is the Will of God that the fruit of our confession be displayed on a consistent basis. When the lawyer came interrogating Jesus regarding the greatest or ultimate commandment, Jesus replied, “… ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39). To be honest with you, this is not always easy to do! But as we ask The Father to live His Life and show forth His Nature in our lives, we’ll see the fruit of agape or unconditional love.

The exhortation today is to make loving God and others unconditionally our ultimate goal in life.

Let’s Pray:
“Father, we pray that You’ll help us to love You and others with an agape or unconditional love. We ask that Your Nature will show forth in our lives. We admit that we can’t do this without Your Assistance! Help us in this area today and always, in Jesus’ Name, amen.”

Daily Prayer:
“Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain!”
The Prayer of Jabez, I Chronicles 4:10

Daily Confession:
Father, I thank You for making me the head and not the tail
Above only and not beneath
The lender and not the borrower
The conqueror and not the conquered
I thank You for giving me all things that pertain unto life and godliness
And for delivering my life from death and destruction
so that I shall live and not die to declare your works
I thank You that no sickness shall live in my body
For by Your Stripes I'm healed
I confess that I will not be stressed, oppressed, or depressed
Because You're keeping me in perfect peace as my mind is stayed on Thee
I confess that I will not be distracted, disorganized, or in disarray,
but I will be diligent to what God has called me to do
I confess that there shall not be any lack in my life
For my God shall supply all my needs according to His Riches in Glory by Christ Jesus
Thank You that all things are working together for my good
And that You always cause me to triumph
This is the day that you have made
I will rejoice and be glad in it
In Jesus, Name, amen.