SMART Goals

I really love numbers, which is another reason why I love my Operation Christmas Child life.  Since we don't send food items in our shoeboxes, I'm not a literal bean counter, but I sure do enjoy keeping track of how many pencils and cups and stuffed animals God is providing for us.

I also love to see how God is bringing in our shoebox goals years by year and thrive on calculating the percentage growth that we see Him generate.

This is also the time I start to focus heavily on writing goals for our area team for the coming year.  Operation Christmas Child training sessions have taught me that those goals should be SMART--specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-sensitive.

But over the past week or so I've been pondering the spiritual goals I want to see God achieve in my life in 2012 and I'm wondering if it's even possible for them to be measurable, and, if so, how do I measure them?

I want to see the fruit of the Spirit growing in my life.  I want to be more humble and I want to know God's love in greater ways.  Are those things measurable?   Can I know that I am 5% more loving at the end of 2012 (oh, if only) ?   Can I say that I know God 12% better than I did in 2011?  Will I be able to see if I am 8% less prideful?

For someone who is motivated by achievement--God made me that way and it has its advantages as well as its pitfalls--it can be frustrating to know how to measure spiritual growth.

God gives us clear markers in His Word of characteristics that reveal growth.  Sometimes I think I catch glimpses of these in my life but much of the time I don't really know how to evaluate them.  I'd say 90% of the time I don't--yeah, that was an attempt at humor, an area at which I fall short 75% of the time.

Help!