The other day I was sitting in the Yogoberry…and…

Do you have spiritual growth goals? I do. Maybe you do too. Goals like read the Bible more, pray more, go to church more, give more money to the Lord, speak more kindly, not lose my temper, think more of other people, etc. A spiritual growth goal is any goal you have which helps you become more like Jesus.

But there is a more important question than do you have a spiritual growth goal. The question is, are your spiritual growth behaviors moving you toward or away from your spiritual growth goals?

Hear this: A spiritual growth goal is worthless if your behaviors are simply moving you away from accomplishing that goal. Let me explain.

The other day I was sitting in Yogoberry with a young man in college talking about his life. It was apparent he was not accomplishing all the goals he had for his life, either academically or athletically as a baseball player.

As we were sitting there talking over amazing frozen yogurt, I was wondering why. Why wasn’t Joe accomplishing the goals he desired for himself? It is same question all of us ask at times in our lives. Why aren’t we achieving the goals we have for ourselves? Maybe the more important question is: how can we accomplish more of our goals in life?

So on the table I put an imaginary dot and said Joe, this is your life today. Then I drew a line to another imaginary spot on the table and said in 10 years where do you want to be? Joe gave some good answers. Great wife, great kids, great job…similar to the way most young men in college would answer that question. So I asked him to think of the goal of having a great wife and think of all his behaviors which are positively moving him toward accomplishing that goal. Then I asked him to think of all his behaviors which are moving him away from accomplishing that goal. The positive goal behaviors I called above the line behaviors. Negative goal behaviors I called below the line behaviors.

The principle is very simple. To accomplish the goal we need to modify our behavior so each behavior affecting the goal is an above the line behavior.

I call this the outcome based behavior principle. It is a very effective way to help us accomplish more of our goals in life. Why don’t you try it with your spiritual growth?

Take an 8.5×11 piece of blank paper and place it longways in front of you. On the left of the paper put a dot, then draw a line across the paper to another dot on the right side of the paper. The first dot is where you are today. For the second dot pick a spiritual growth goal in your life you want to accomplish one year from now. It can be any goal that results in you becoming more like Jesus. Make the goal an important one to you.

Now evaluate all of your current behaviors related to accomplishing that goal. The behaviors you are currently engaged in that contribute to the goal, write above the line. The behaviors you are engaged in which work against the goal put below the line.

Now own this…if most of your listed behaviors are below the line, you will not accomplish that goal.  If most of your behaviors are above the line, you might accomplish that goal. If all your behaviors are above the line, I would say you will accomplish that goal.

Keep this chart in front of you. As you add behaviors to your life, put them on the sheet where they belong. As you take behaviors away from your life, take them off the sheet. Each month try to take one below the line behavior off the sheet and replace it with a brand new above the line behavior. At any moment in your life this sheet is a great predictor of whether you will accomplish your goal or not.

This exercise is powerful! The reason for its power lies in its focus on behaviors. Desires are not a good predictor of future outcomes. Many people want many things. It is the people who have the ability to modify their behavior to accomplish what they desire who succeed. Let’s start behaving in ways consistent with the goals we desire to accomplish in life.

As for Joe, we had a great conversation as we ate our frozen yogurt. I have high hopes he will accomplish all he desires in life.