Setting goals is something that we do often. Goals help you strive to achieve a desired result within a specific time frame. Often the process involves setting long-term and short -term objectives to help you stay focused, motivated and on track to attain the desired results.
It seems reasonable that we should choose a goal that can contribute to the betterment of humanity. Love should be at the highest level of goal setting. Without love, humanity is void of acts of care and other activities that provide for the well-being of others.
Writing to the people of Corinth, the Apostle Paul expressed love as the highest goal that we can achieve: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious, boastful, arrogant, or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rather, it rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
With love as our highest goal, we have strong feelings of warm personal attachment and a deep affection for those we care about. It is in line with the Apostle’s notion that love has attributes such as patient and kindness. Love resists the notion of irritable and resentful and rejoices in the truth. As we begin this new year, let’s examine the goals that you have set to accomplish. If love is not at the top of your list, I recommend that you consider making it a top priority.
We don’t think of setting love as a goal but when we give it some consideration, we discover that most relationships do not succeed without having love as the most important factor. Allow me to reiterate again the words of Apostle Paul who said, “love must be at the top of our everyday living.”
When you make love your highest goal, you will have some give-and-take in your relationships. You will strive to be in sync with others and work to understand and accept their imperfections. So, try putting love at the top of your goals this year. And Never Give Up! Never Give Up! Never Give Up!
By Dr. Walter Ghosten
chaplain@lhp.net
