Hello worship leading friends!

I trust you had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year.

As each New Year rolls around, I make it a point to sit down and write down my specific goals for the coming 12 months. I divide them into 6 categories: spiritual, physical, career, Thomas Road, financial, and personal. I usually will list 10 goals in each category and then proceed to drive myself crazy throughout the year trying to accomplish them.

I have gotten a little smarter over the years in that I don’t set goals so high that they cannot be accomplished in just 1 year, but I try not to set them so low that it doesn’t push me to better myself in one area or another. Goal setting is wonderful thing, and I love it. I believe it helps create discipline in our lives. Ten years from now, it will be fun to look back and see all that has been accomplished.

But there is also a problem. You see, sometimes I can get so caught up in accomplishing MY goals that I fail to accomplish HIS goal in my life. I’d like to say those two always fall under the same plan and purpose, but many times, they do not.   Maybe you are like me, in that you really do want to please the Lord in all you do, but in so doing, there is a hidden, unspoken agenda in the recess of your heart and mind that was also about pleasing yourself. I can’t tell you how many times, almost daily, that I have had to do a self-inventory of my motives, only to discover that this thing I did, even if it publicly gave praise to Jesus, was ALSO about receiving praise for myself.

So this year, one of my goals is selflessness. I want to lay my head on my pillow each night and know that I did at least one thing each day that was totally selfless. I want to get to the point where I truly do not care who gets the credit for what…as long as God is glorified.   In fact, I’m recording a cd right now and the title is ONLY JESUS. Maybe the title alone is why I feel so strongly about this right now, but for just once in my 44 year life…I want my life to be solely about bringing glory and honor and praise and majesty to Jesus…only Jesus.

Thus…the phrase for this year in my life is simply: ONLY JESUS. May He increase, and may I decrease. Who knows, if I make that my #1 goal, He might just help me accomplish the rest of that daunting list.

Here’s to accomplishing His goals and to a great year!

Charles