Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk. A daily program powered by the Truth Network. This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you why. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host.
And I'm super excited about talking to you today. Our question is, what are your goals for 2025? And before you shut me down, I know some of you are like, Oh, no, I don't want to talk about this anymore. We have to, we have to think about our lives. And so God asked us to think about our lives, to reflect back, to set goals, to move forward with Him. And so I want to ask you some questions. So if you have some goals for 2025, I want you to call in and share your those with us. The number is 888-348-7884.
Excuse me, 866-348-7884, 866-34-TRUTH. What are your goals? What are your New Year's resolutions? Do you think of it more as a reset? Maybe you have a word of the year. Maybe you are aligning yourself for the year.
Maybe you have a vision board. There's so many ways to look at the upcoming year and make some evaluations and set some goals. But why do we not typically like the idea of resolutions? Well, for a lot of us who maybe in years past, we set set New Year's resolutions. And we didn't do very well. Usually, I think by by the time the Super Bowl rolls around, most of us have ditched our resolutions.
And we, you know, we really don't maybe don't even remember what they were. We've given up or discouraged. But how do we how do we go about setting goals, and aligning ourselves with God's will, thinking about these things from a different perspective so that we can actually move forward with those things and just just make goals that actually accomplish something. So, you know, it's the worst when you set a goal. And then you you just you just fail. And you have to ask yourself, why don't you set a goal?
Why don't I fail with that? And I want to talk about the first thing that's super important when you think about where you want to go. Where do you want to be? It's just to begin with the end in mind.
We've all heard that. But where? Ask yourself this. In one year, when you when your calendar flips to January 1, 2026, what ways do you want to be different? What do you want to be? What do you want to be different about your relationships? Maybe your work, maybe your emotional state, your spiritual, just how you're growing spiritually, where do you want to be? And then work backwards from that. But another important thing to ask is why.
So if you set a goal, the most compelling reason to follow through on what it takes to reach that goal is that you have something that is motivating you something that's a big idea. So for example, I would love to I'll just be honest with you, 2024 was not my best health year. It wasn't there was nothing devastating, nothing debilitating, but enough small things that were just annoying. I don't know if anybody can relate to that. But so across the across the year, I just experienced some different health issues.
And so for 2025, I want this to be a year where my health improves. So what do I have to do about that? There are things that I have to do about that. But am I motivated enough to do those things? Well, my motivation, my why, is because I would love to go visit my daughter overseas.
Or maybe maybe for you, you want to be healthy enough to pick up your grandkids, or do all number of things, whatever your why is, you have to have a pretty strong why in order to follow through with what it takes to see changes in your life. And that's what I want you to do. And so what's it what's a goal you have? What's a resolution? I want you to call in and tell me let's talk about it.
The numbers 866-348-7884. What are your goals? What are your resolutions?
What are some ways that you would like to change in this next year? So let's just have a conversation about that. All these questions. And so it's something you can think about, you know, one inch deep, or you can dig down deep, and really ask some hard questions of yourself.
And we take some time to really pray through. You know, where am I spiritually? Where am I emotionally? Where am I in my relationships? Where am I with my work and my goals? And we ask the Lord just to inform us to show us that the Holy Spirit would guide us in the ways that we should go, you know, He's big enough.
He's running the universe. And so He does not have a problem helping us set these goals and align our goals and our lives with what He has for us. So one thing that we like to do at these retreats is to choose a word of the year. And I'm sure some of you have seen this, some of you have done this. But this is the fifth, the fourth year that I've chosen a word of the year. And I've prayed through it, and I've thought a lot about it. And I did several studies in order to come to the point where I really felt like God put a word for my year. And I'll share those with you in just a few minutes.
But I want you to call in. I want to hear about your New Year's resolutions. I want to hear about what God is putting on your heart. What are some ways that you would like to change and grow in 2025? Well, first of all, I had a word of the year.
Mine was embrace. And it was 2022. Or maybe it was 2021.
Anyway, a few years back. And at that point, I had entered into seminary, and I was doing a residency program through my church. And I was about six months into it. And it was really hard. It was a big change of pace. It was a timeout from a lot of the things that I was doing in my life. And I'd say it definitely after that point, it really took off.
But at that point, I was I was a bit discouraged because of some of the things that I thought I was going to be doing that I was not doing. And so my word for that for that January was embrace. And I have a card. And I wrote embrace on the front. And I wrote why I chose that word on the back. And I was rereading them this past weekend as I was choosing my new word. And I just wrote on there, I chose the word embrace because I'm six months into this residency. And I just need to embrace what God has put in front of me.
And that really did set the course in some ways for the upcoming year. So we're going to a break. But when we come back, I'd love to hear from you. What are your goals? What is your what are your resolutions? What do you want God to do in your life in the next 12 months?
Welcome back to True Talk Live. This is Alicia Grimes and we're talking about New Year's resolutions and setting goals. So if you're out there and you want to call in the numbers 866-348-7884, what are your goals for 2025? Are there some things that you want to put in place to take you where you want to go? Are there some things you're asking of the Lord that he would do in your life?
In this year? Those are great questions. It's so good that we have a calendar based life. And that once a year, we circle back to a new year. And somehow, along the way, somebody has proposed the idea that we just reflect on our lives, and set some goals and look to the future. And so that's what we're here to talk about today.
I mentioned in the last segment that I lead a retreat for women in the winter where we do a lot of this together. And it's a couple of days of thinking and laughing and praying about our lives and crying about things that we grieve from the previous year, talking about our dreams that have not come to fruition, and laying those before the Lord and just asking him to show us what he has for us. So we talked a little bit about setting a word for the year.
And that's something that's been new for me the last three or four years. And the first year I set my word is embrace. The second year, I set my word is courage, because I knew God was calling me to step way out of my comfort zone to launch a women's ministry in our community. And even though I'd been doing that in the in the context of the local church for 25 years, this was something that was going to be different.
And it would be open to women of all churches in our community. And it was just a big step. And so I needed the courage to do that.
And God was so faithful to give me the courage and give me what I needed to put that to bring that to fruition. And so I think we've got a caller that we've got Mike from Dayton, Ohio. Mike, I'm glad to talk to you.
Are you here? And let me know your thoughts on this topic. Yeah, well, I love the topic. It's a great, it's a great reset. You know, I mean, thank God that Nick just said to me on the phone that, you know, thank God that we're a calendar type people, you know, I mean, we can reset every year, and we can think about what's God done in our lives and what we can reset with. There's been one time in my life where I said, I'm going to read the Bible in one year, you know, and it took me two years. But you know what, you got there. If you didn't set the goal for one year, do you think you would have done it in two years?
Probably not. No, if I would have set the goal in two years, I don't think I would have done it in two years, you know? And this year, I'm going to try to do it. My goal again this year is to try to do it again this year, if I can, you know, you know, things come up and in time and, and, and I'm going to listen to it this time as well as reading it.
I think that might help me a little bit. So listen, listen and read at the same time. And then let it happen, you know? Yeah, I'm going to change a habit for that that happened.
I talked previously about habits and, and I'm going to try to make a schedule in my life where this is my schedule, and I'm doing this and I'm going to be dogmatic about it. Yeah, is that it? Yeah. It's not easy to do what God wants you to do.
That's for sure. God, God definitely challenges you every day and gets you out of your comfort zone. You know me?
He does. I found that the place he wants me is usually at least a good, a good amount out of my circle of my comfort zone. I'm like, where do you want me to be?
He said over here where you're not comfortable. I love what you're saying, Mike, because I think, you know, we have these goals. And what I hear you saying is I have a goal, but I have some action steps, because I think that's where some of us break down. You're like, I've got this goal of reading through the Bible in a year. I can't really find my Bible.
I, you know, probably need a new journal, but I'll, I'll get those later. And then, you know, then it's the middle of February and you still haven't started and you're like, well, I really didn't start. Now I feel behind.
I'm too far to catch up. Um, but to be gracious with ourselves, but to make a plan, you know, I think we trust the Holy Spirit, but we also make a plan. Do you know what I'm saying? I definitely do. The Holy Spirit gives you directions, but God says, okay, now it's in your court. You know what I mean?
Yeah. Um, I mean, it's, it's same with any kind of sport. Um, you might have the talent to do it, but if you don't practice it, you, you can't get there. You can't be good at it and God will give you directions, which helps you to be good at it, but then you have to practice it.
You know what I mean? And so, um, that's, that's my, that's my goal for this year to practice and be more good at what I need to be with God. So, um, well, I love that Mike, you know, we can, I, I've read recently that Bible literacy is at the lowest place it's been since our, in the history of our country. Church attendance is definitely declining, but an interesting fact, it was in USA Today, um, last weekend, I think, um, or maybe in the past couple of weeks that last year there was an increase in Bible sales of 22% in the United States, which I think is so interesting. And it makes me excited because they said a lot of those Bible sales went to new Bible readers. And so there is an interest that obviously God is moving in people's hearts to read the Bible. But, um, we also, you know, need to come alongside people and help them read the Bible, help them know, you know, there's strategies for how to understand the Bible and background and all those things. But I think it's exciting that Bible sales are up 22%.
I'm like, okay, come on, Lord. I know that's how he changed my life was through his word. Just, you know, speaking to me through his word. So there's nothing I don't think we could aspire to more that really would change our lives in 2025 than deliberately spending time in God's word.
Yeah. Um, we didn't get saved by not hearing God's word. We heard God saved by hearing God's word. God told us, you know, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding, uh, for God to love the world. He gave us his only begotten son who ever believed it to them.
So did not perish, but have everlasting life. We didn't hear those things and put them into our hearts and not believe them. You know, so the more we read, the more we understand, the more faith we get with God and more trust we get with God and the word of God is so powerful. And I've been hearing preachers over and over and over all throughout the radio stations, even the worship stations saying the word is the way to go, the way to understand what needs to happen in your life. So you can be transformed and do the things of God, you know, and, and, and, and not be of the world, but be of what God wants you to be, you know, and it's not easy. Um, we're going to get persecuted.
I know I did when I was in high school, I carried a Bible around in high school and I was persecuted all the time, but was it worth it? Oh yes. Um, you know, I mean, it just was, you know, I mean, uh, I have a, I don't know about everybody says, Oh, you've been, you've been tested, you've been doing this. And you know, when I, when I get tested, I sometimes have a smile on my face about it because I know God's going to, God's going to fix her over there. You know, I mean, when he tests us, he's really bringing those things to the surface that need to change and he's committed to doing that in us.
So that shows that we're his, that we belong to him. Well, we'll be right back in just a few minutes. Thanks so much, Mike, for your call.
You're listening to the truth network and truthnetwork.com. Welcome back. This is Alicia Grimes and we're talking about goals and 2025 looking back and looking forward. I wonder, do you have any goals for 2025? Would you like to call in and talk about that?
The numbers 866-348-7884, 866-348-7884. What a fun time talking to Mike a little bit about his goals for reading the Bible in 2025. There's so many different areas of life that you may have a goal. Maybe it's physically, maybe it's emotionally, spiritually, relationally, maybe it's a work goal, a personal goal. But when we think about these goals, I just want to just back us up just a minute and remind us that when we think about new beginnings, that Jesus is the one who ultimately gives us a new beginning. He saved us, he's given us a new life, he's given us his spirit, and he's aligned our lives with his, with his purposes in the world. And so when we think about our life goals, I don't want us to think about those as anything separate than what God wants for us. Like what would it mean if 2025 you lived your life in a way that aligned with what God is doing in the world?
Henry Blackaby, I don't know, it's probably been in the 80s, I don't know how long ago, he wrote a Bible study called Experiencing God. And he talked about in the morning when you get up, do you say, God, here are my goals for my day, please bless them. Or do you say, God, what are you doing in the world? Show me and I will align my time and my effort to join you in what you're doing. And that was really profound for me.
It was very much a paradigm shift. But when you start to do that, you realize that that God is, he's in all, he's in all of life. So he wants certain things for you in all these different areas of your life. So don't think about like you've got a secular life and you've got a spiritual life.
It's all his, it's all comes under his authority and it's most beautiful when it's lived under his authority. So just remember that God has made you new, he's given you new hope, purpose, new, a new place in the world, new goals and values and dreams. And that life is going to cause you to live in a way that your life is bigger than it would be if you were just living for yourself. So I want to encourage you to think about these practical things in your life as they fall under the Lordship of Christ and his, his beautiful way. So I was talking in the break with Nick and we were talking about, he threw out this idea and it was so profound and so obvious.
And I was like, Oh, I've got to use that Nick. But he said, when talking about your goals, think about the why we were talking about the why, like the why is what motivates you. The why is going to keep you motivated when those, when, when those days get hard or when you, you know, you don't want to follow through with whatever, you know, is your best for this year. And that's the reason most of us don't follow through with our goals.
Our why isn't compelling enough to push us through those hard times. But why, why do you want to do this? And then the next question is when?
You've got to set a time and a place. So these goals have to be super practical. You know, if I say I'm going to, I'm going to, you know, be healthier in 2025. Well, our family started, we built a little home gym in our basement and it's not overly glamorous, but it's pretty cool. And it eliminated my excuses for how long it takes me to go to the Y and get home, which is not very long anyway. But my place is going to be my home gym.
Well, what time of day am I going to do that? We got to be flexible. You can't be too rigid with your goals or, you know, the specifics or you will really be frustrated because these are not perfection. They're progress. Think about your life in that context.
You're not going for perfection because you're never going to reach that, but just progress in these areas. So why, when, where, where's your place? What, what are you going to do when you get there? What, you know, Mike was saying he's going to, he's going to read his Bible.
He's going to do certain things in a certain time and a certain place. I set some spiritual goals that I want to do the Bible recap New Testament starting in January. So I ordered the book. I ordered a small gratitude journal $4.99 off Amazon that every day it gives me three, three lines to write three things I'm grateful for that day.
And it goes for 52 weeks. And then another spiritual goal I had was spiritually to just pray big, bold prayers. And that's another conversation maybe I'll save for a few minutes from now. But what are you praying about? That is big and bold. What God size prayers are you praying? Well, our family and a lot of the families in our church, we have a big, bold prayer list. And it may be a chalkboard. It may be, you know, a sticky note on your mirror, but we write down what are three things at least that we're praying that if God did, it would just really change significant things in our lives and the lives of people around us. Maybe they're those are names.
Maybe they're something that we're trying to achieve. But whatever your big, bold prayers are, write them down, put them somewhere that you can see them, somewhere you can be reminded. When I think of my word of the year, I wrote it on a black piece of cardstock and it's in a frame and it's beside my bed.
And I see it every day. My word for this year is steadfast, because I want to walk diligently and steadfastly in the purposes that God has called me. And I also want to be reminded of God's that God's the one who holds me fast.
That steadfastness comes from him. So if you if you think about your why, your when, your where, your what, your how, and then there's your who. And this is the reason we have gyms. This is why we create groups. This is why we pray together.
This is why we have running groups. You know, there's so many different things we want to do. But when you do these things with someone else, there's a much higher level of accountability, of celebration, of fun that goes along. We celebrate together.
We may grieve together. But who are you going to who are you going to walk this out with? And maybe it's maybe no one's going to walk alongside of you to accomplish this goal. But you need people to know your goals.
So who are one or two trusted friends that you could say, this is something that I really want God to do in my life. And I want to take the steps toward being different in this area of my life. Maybe it's some anger or some bitterness that, you know, you have carried for way too long and you want to start to make practical steps. Maybe it's enrolling in some counseling. Maybe it's working through an anger workbook.
Maybe it's reading some Dr. Chapman stuff about anger. The other side of love, which helped me years ago, work through some anger. But what are the steps that you're going to take and tell somebody about the goal and the ways that you're going to go about it? So just super helpful, practical ways for you to set goals and reach your goals. You know, I also think there's in the business world, which, you know, God has it all through his word. He's so wise. If you read the Proverbs, so many of these things rise right out of scripture.
There's really nothing new under the sun. But in the business world, they call them smart goals. And so smart goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. So it's not very helpful to say, I want to be a better person in 2025. What specifically would you like to work on? Be very specific about your goal. If it's, you know, I want to, oh, a million things. I want to disciple three people in the first six months of 2025. Well, make that a very specific goal.
Measurable. Can you look back and know that you accomplished it? If it's like I want to be a better person, how do you exactly measure that? But if you, you know, you say, I want to join a community group and get to know 15 new people in my church. Well, you can you can measure that. Did you join a community group?
Did you get to know 15 new people? Attainable. And this is where we either overestimate or we underestimate our ability. You know, if I if I go into 2025, I was talking to Nick about this because I have so many things that I would love to accomplish. I would love to publish a couple of books.
And I'm I'm working on starting a podcast and I want to learn AI. And I want to disciple 60 people through a discipleship book that I've written. You know, all these all these dreams and goals, you can set the bar so high that you just easily get discouraged. Or some sometimes people like I have this health goal and I'm going to do it in, you know, 10 weeks.
Well, if it took you 10 years to get into that place, it might take more than 10 weeks to to get to a healthier place. So make make them attainable so that you don't get so discouraged. And then realistic. Realistic really goes along with attainable. You know, just be realistic about those goals and timely. That has to do with the thought that you're going to give this a cutoff.
You're going to say one year from now, I would like to have grown in these ways, have read through the Bible in a year, have my three big, bold prayers, have accomplished some health goals, whatever that is for you, that you set a time frame around those goals. So we'll be right back. If you want to call in, the number is 866-348-7884. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. Today, we're talking about setting goals for 2025, and we've covered a lot of ground. But a few things I want to talk about in our last segment, just a few more ideas. But if you want to call in, the number is 866-348-7884.
I would love to hear from you if you have advice or input on best practices for you, things that you've found true from God's word, wisdom from His word, wisdom from maybe a sermon that you've heard or something that you've implemented in your life that's helped you grow in a direction that has helped you to align with what God has for you, what He's doing in the world. So if you want to call in, feel free to. But I was just thinking over the break, what if we don't pursue God's best for us? What if we think through these things and say, Alicia, these are a little too hard for me. I don't really see myself making any changes this year.
Well, do you know that when you when you don't grow, you're probably actually going backwards? What if what if you don't address some of the things that you know you need to? And a year from now, that anger has grown into a deep bitterness, or maybe it started to really affect relationships in your family or at work. What if the issues of pride, if you think, you know, I really don't want to deal with those. I think I'm fine, which is usually what pride says to us.
What is that actually going to infect and affect over the course of the next 12 months? So one question that we ask when we come come to these kind of reset, realignment conversations is what do I need to surrender? What do I need to let go of? What do I need to really recognize that the path? Some of the things in my life are taking me is not going to land me at the place that I want to to be, or the place that that God has for me. So what you know, this is a hard question. But what if the worst parts of me go unchecked?
What is that going to look like in a year? So for some of you, that's facing an addiction. It's dealing with betrayal or maybe, you know, some abuse that's been in your past. It's doing the really hard work to allow the Holy Spirit to go into the deepest places and renew you, to heal you, to restore maybe relationships, or maybe those relationships aren't even available to be restored.
Maybe the people that hurt you aren't even alive. But what does that bitterness have the potential to do in your life in the next year? So sometimes we look at the vision and we're like, oh, wow, my life could be like this in 12 months. But there's also a counter vision. And it's the portrait of who we become if we don't align ourselves with God's best, and if we allow the worst parts of ourselves to go unchecked.
So I know that's a hard question, but that's something that I have to ask myself. So word of the year, I think there's something to be said for asking the Lord, not just, you know, God, this is what I want my word to be, but really asking the Holy Spirit to surprise you maybe with a word that you maybe don't even understand and won't even understand the meaning until several months from now. And, you know, as I picked some of my words, I knew why I chose them, and sometimes I don't. I'm like, I just feel like this is my word.
And that word that year tells me and shows me why he was preparing my heart in that particular way. We talked about SMART goals, being specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. And then the who, what, where, when, how question around our goals. As we reflect into last year, maybe you ask yourselves some of these questions. How do I stay connected in my local church in this season? What am I hoping for? What has been lost in the past year?
What am I grieving, and how do I allow the Lord to heal me through that? Where can I have more fun in 2025? You know, fun is not a bad thing. We can actually walk with the Lord and have more fun than we ever imagined, just surrendering our lives to Him.
So the sweet spot is where He is. And so how do I have more fun in 2025? So I'm not sure what you're thinking about, but I just want to remind you that God has plans for you. We know from Jeremiah, He says that He has plans for us, plans for a hope and a future, plans to prosper us and not to harm us. But He also says, you will seek Me and you'll find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.
So sometimes we leave that part of the verse off. So He does have plans for us, and He does want to prosper us, and prosper us spiritually more than anything. And we see that through the generous offer of life in Him, of forgiveness and restoration, forgiveness and hope and a new purpose. But He also calls us to seek Him with all of our hearts. And so this year, would you seek the Lord with your heart? Would you ask Him to lead you spiritually? Circling back to one big, bold prayer.
What is one thing that, if it happened, you would know that it was God? Several years ago, I don't know what Bible study I was doing, but Beth Moore was the teacher. And she was talking about praying, and she said she felt like God was looking at her and said, like, Beth, are you talking to me? Because I don't even see myself in your prayers. And she said she realized that she prayed very small prayers because her faith was very small. And she prayed small prayers because she did not want to be disappointed. What if she prayed something bold and God didn't answer?
Or maybe He answered in a way that was not what she hoped. And so she just said she just played it safe and had small prayers. And then she started to pray bold prayers. There's a man in our church. He passed away a year ago, August.
His name's Andy Jump. And he really called our whole church to pray big, bold prayers. And I think his legacy is partly this big, bold prayer movement. Among so many other things, he was an amazing man.
Father, husband, elder, just tremendous person of vision and challenge. But he asked us, what are you praying that only God could answer? And if He did, that you would know He answered. And so what's one big, bold prayer that you would pray? And I would encourage you to write it down. Put it on a sticky note.
Write it on a chalkboard in your kitchen. But pray it consistently and see what God does. Maybe, if you're really bold, maybe do three big, bold prayers. Last year, I did several big, bold prayers for last fall.
It was a year ago fall. And I had four people that I was praying diligently that would come to Christ. And two of those did. And one is much closer in her journey of faith. And the other one is still yet to be, to come into the kingdom. But, you know, those, it's not necessarily because I prayed, but I was seeking the Lord and His work in their life. And God allowed me to see that work and to see some of those things come to fruition. So I think when we pray for people, that aligns our hearts with God's vision and purposes in the world.
So, you know, lots of things to think about. About New Year's resolutions, setting goals, realigning your life alongside what Christ has for you. But as we finish up here in the next couple of minutes, I just want to read over some and remind you about some things that are true of you. When you have this as the umbrella over you, it allows you to dream and pray and know that change is possible. Know that you have a heavenly Father who loves you.
You have the Son of God, God the Son who came for you, and the Holy Spirit who lives in you. And so you're not alone. It's not up to you to change yourself or try harder in 2025.
I hope that's not what you've heard. But I just want to remind you that you are a witness. You can do all things through Christ. You're led by God in victory. You're not alone. You're his beloved. You're justified. You're complete in Christ. You're free from condemnation. You're sealed by the Spirit. You're a recipient of grace and mercy.
You're beyond the grip of evil. You're seated with Christ in the heavenly realm. You're purified. You're accepted in Christ. You have a purpose.
You're transformed. You're dead to sin, alive to Christ, crucified with Christ, brought near to God, firmly rooted, changed into Christ's image, can leave the past behind, and can step into a new future. Some of that somewhere should have been hugely encouraging to you. Remember the identity that you've been given in Christ and walk in that in 2025. So I want to finish out with a scripture passage. It's from 2 Corinthians 4, verses 16 through 18. So we do not lose heart, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not into the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen.
For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. So as you think about your goals and your life, where do you want to be at the end of 2025? What are the steps you need to put into place to move in that direction? And ask the Lord to bless you in that so that you can most bring Him glory. So that's my prayer for me, for myself, for 2025. Some of the goals that I have all fall into those different categories of spiritual, physical, emotional, vocational ministry. And so I just I bless you in 2025. And may the Lord bless you and keep you, cause His face to shine upon you and greatly bless you. We'll see you next time.
