“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

Hello 2025! Don’t you just love a new year? A clean slate and a chance for all kinds of new possibilities. A time for new beginnings, fresh starts, and a reset on your motivation. It’s during this time of year, when there is a lot of discussion about what goal's you can set for your business, your health, your finances, or just general life goals. I also really like to seek out ways to set spiritual goals! For me, this is less about exact stats or perfection in my spiritual life and more about creating space to grow spiritually! 

Whether you regularly set spiritual goals in your life, or if this is a brand-new concept for you, this blog is for you. I want to go over some tips on how to set goals, as well as give you exact examples of how I use spiritual goals in my own life. Let’s get started! 

TIPS FOR SETTING GOALS

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain

There have been lots (and lots) of books written about writing goals, creating habits, and becoming all together a more efficient person. Some of my favorites are: 

• Atomic Habits by James Clear *
• Dream Big by Bob Goff *
• Hero On a Mission by Donald Miller *

But for the sake of this blog post, I want to share just a few of the tips for setting and succeeding at goals that have been most helpful for me!

1. For every goal, create a habit. 

This one is probably the most pivotal advice I’ve heard about goals. It breaks down your goal and hope of someday, into something that you are actually working towards! So for every goal that you want to accomplish, create habits that will help you get there. 

Your goal is not going to be accomplished if you don’t have time in your calendar. Because there will always be other things that take up our time. 

For example, if you are really hoping to be a person who speaks languages… then start by setting a goal of doing a lesson every day. Essentially make sure that your goals line up with your vision of who you want to become! 

4. Start with attainable goals.

Don’t set yourself up for failure! Help yourself by setting goals that are attainable. Look honestly at your time and energy and dreams and choose goals that match where you are. 

5. Write down your goals / Get accountability.

Don’t set goals and then forget them! Write them down, set alarms, ask someone if they want to join you in accomplishing the goals. All of that will help you to be more successful! 

What tips would you add to this list? 

SETTING GOALS

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis

Those tips could be helpful for any type of goal that you want to set in your life! For spiritual goals, it can also be incredibly helpful to set aside time to pray and reflect before setting goals. Making sure that they align with where God is leading you. 

Now what exactly are spiritual goals and what can they look like? Spiritual goals are any goals that you have set to help you grow in faith, or to give you space and time to focus on your relationship with God. Here are some ideas of spiritual goals that I have set and have thought about setting as well.

• Choosing a Bible reading plan and when/how I will spend time in Scripture. 
• Setting a goal for how often, when or how I will focus on prayer.
• Finding a small group or devotional group to join that is based on the season of life I am in or that is studying something specific. 
• Finding a topic or choosing a book of the Bible that I want to focus on in the year.
• Choosing when and how many Bible verses I want to memorize.
• Marking seasons on my calendar where I might fast or focus on prayer
• Choosing ways that I can volunteer or serve at my church or within my community. 

What other goals would you add to this list?

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.’” – Alfred Lord Tennyson

SPIRITUAL RESOURCES

“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written.” – Melody Beattie

• Dwell - An app for listening to the Bible. It offers full plans, playlists based on specific topics, as well as gently led studies and meditations. 
• Bible Project - A brand that offers easy to understand videos to deepen your understanding of Scripture. 
• Faith-Based Gratitude Journals - One of our most popular products! A simple way to add gratitude into your life.  
• Journaling Bibles - I really love these beautiful journal Bibles. Lots of wonderful designs! If you can’t find the version you like, you can also search for the version that you prefer. 

QUESTIONS FOR SETTING SPIRITUAL GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR

If you want to add to your time of reflection and planning, here are a few questions to journal through! 

1. What worked and what didn’t work in my spiritual life last year? 
2. How am I hoping to grow in my spiritual life this year? 
3. What does this season of my life look like for my time, energy, and life goals? 
4. What specific goals are you going to set for the year? When and how are you going to accomplish them? 
5. What’s one thing from this blog that you want to use or put into action? 

Ephesians 4:22-24 - To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

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