Are You Giving 100% to Reach the Right Goal?

I recently had the opportunity to interview Lance Armstrong's trainer, Chris Carmichael. As you may know, Lance is the seven-time winner of the grueling Tour de France bike race. What Chris saw in Lance during his training may change the way you view your life.

Chris Carmichael has raced in the Tour de France and the Olympics, so he knows what it takes to win. When I asked him what made Lance different from other athletes he has trained, here's what he said: "The difference in Lance is that he gave 100% to reach his goal. Every other athlete I've trained gave a lot, usually 99% or 99.9%. That's why they were elite athletes. But none of them gave 100%. Lance gave it all. That's what made him a champion."

Christians can learn a lot from this. How many of us give 100% to reach a goal? Not many. Most of us are pretty confused about what goals we should have. We know serving God is important. We also know we need to take care of our family. And we want to do well in our work. For most Christians, the division keeps us from giving 100% to anything.

But God has a solution for that confusion. He wants us to be 100% devoted to Him. As I've said before, He is our priority. Serving and glorifying Him is our goal. Everything we do should be completely geared toward God and building His kingdom. Once we get that right, everything else will fall into place.

Having total devotion to God will make us realize that it's not our goals that matter. In fact, any goals we do set should be stepping-stones to this ultimate goal. Goals at work are accomplished not for our glory, but God's. How we treat our family is with God's kingdom in mind. And how make all of our decisions is guided by how well they help us reach the ultimate goal.

Let me give you an example. A job opportunity can create problems within a marriage. When you evaluate a job opportunity with your own goals in mind, it can cause arguments and separation between spouses. But when you and your spouse have God and His kingdom as your sole goal, the individual goals are tossed out the window. All of a sudden, you and your spouse are evaluating the move based on how it serves God and builds His kingdom. You're working together to accomplish the same goal.

The husband's promotion and the wife's comfort are given up to reach a decision based on a far more important goal. And best of all, this is a goal you can devote yourself to wholeheartedly. There's no need to have any reservation about the decision you make. You can move forward without any confusion. And you can move forward with complete confidence in God's direction and provision.

Yes, you can still make wrong decisions. But you can also trust that God will use such an experience to His glory and to your good (Romans 8:28). Instead of blaming your spouse for a bad decision, you can look at each other and know that God is using what happened to fulfill His purposes. You can rest in God. That's where you'll find success. That's where you'll find peace.

Best of all, it's a goal you can be completely, 100% devoted to without any reservation whatsoever. And there's no guilt over other neglected responsibilities.

Seed Newsvine

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