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Aneel Aranha is an author, preacher, and evangelist who has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. You can find a huge selection of his reflections, articles, sermons, songs and other resources on his website www.aneelaranha.com.

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Online House of Prayer

Make God Your Goal

April 29, 2024 • Aneel Aranha • Season 5 • Episode 82

0:00 | 2:34

Are you chasing after success but feeling unfulfilled? Find out why making God your goal is the key to true success and eternal significance.

Make God Your Goal — Aneel Aranha

Hello and welcome to The Hope Podcast. I’m Aneel Aranha. Today, we will talk about how we shouldn’t make goals our god but God our goal.

Every leadership course teaches the importance of having visions and goals in life. I agree. Without a vision, we won’t know where we are going. Without goals to fulfill our vision, we won’t get where we want to be. However, the danger is that some of us can be so single-minded about attaining our goals that we sacrifice everything to achieve them, including God and family!

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” Jesus asks us. We need to ask ourselves this question from time to time to ensure we have our bearings right. We expend so much time, effort, and energy to attain success here on earth, which we won’t enjoy for more than a few years, but spend so little expense on securing success in the life that follows this, which is for eternity.

“But,” you may ask, “Is it wrong to be successful?” Not at all. I’m sure God would love all of us to achieve success in what we do; it is *how* we attain it that concerns him. We often get to where we want to be by following a straight line, which involves bulldozing anything and anyone that stands in the way. This, however, is not God’s way. God’s way involves two things.

One, we let the goal come from God. He might want us to preach the gospel rather than become the CEO of a huge multinational corporation. Or vice-versa. We should let God determine what our goals should be.

Two, we let God direct us in achieving it. Think of it as driving a car with God sitting beside us. We drive, but he shows us the route to take. And, as long as we listen to him, we will not get lost and get to where we need to be. Sometimes, in grand style!

Now, you may ask: “How do we determine these things?” Through the Holy Spirit. The greatest gift that God gave us is salvation that came through Jesus. The second greatest gift is the Holy Spirit, given to all who believe. “The Holy Spirit,” Jesus said, “will teach us all things and will remind us of everything that Jesus said” (cf. John 14:26).

Make it your priority to meet him and set godly goals.

God bless you.