Goals: A Battleground for Virtue

Helen Syski discovers worldly goals can be means to heavenly ends. 

“If I ask God for courage, will He give it to me, or will He put me in more situations where I need it?”  

Earnest teenage eyes looked at me across the table. It was the final night for our confirmation students, and this young man stunned me during his personal interview. Coming from a teen who mostly caused trouble or checked out for our classes with a difficult situation at home, this zinger was particularly poignant. 

“Both. He will give you opportunities, and if you pray in those moments, He will also give you the courage you need.” 

When We Need Virtue, We Need Opportunity 

Heaven is our ultimate goal; desire to be with God in heaven supersedes all else. However, if we only have that goal, then the rest of life is in danger of being a vague pursuit of becoming holy enough. We pursue virtue itself and find that, like happiness, it is shy of being a direct target. Our formation in goodness loses its teeth, and our powers collapse in on themselves with griping, failure and even despair.  

When children do not have goals to work toward, bickering begins. Chores aren’t done; everyone but themselves are to blame. They have no clear direction in which to travel; they have nothing to pit themselves against. When a goal is in view, now being charitable, or prudent, or fortified makes sense. There are tangible and concrete realities present with clear choices to be made.   

Worldly goals do serve a purpose; they give us a battleground for virtue. For Christians, these goals are not ends in themselves, but rather the means for getting closer to God. We take our-God given desires, personalities, and opportunities, and turn them into a gift back to Him. Making a certain sports team, learning a new art, whistling the call of a Carolina wren are all markers on our path as we run to Him. They are all opportunities to grow in virtue and glorify God. 

Dream What’s Possible, Not Just Probable 

In setting goals in our family, we are beginning to stretch beyond probable goals (read: survival mode) to possible. We find ourselves in a place where we need to shoot higher rather than play it safe, because these worldly goals are amoral. It does not matter whether we succeed; it is who we become while we pursue them that is important. We need to invest these talents rather than bury them like the scared steward. We need to learn to dream again with our teenagers. 

When we only have heavenly goals, life becomes a scary place. Every failure is morally significant and lands us in the confessional. When we have earthly goals, our failures as well as our successes become the raw material for virtue. When the goal itself is not wrapped up in our holiness, pursuing it with God wraps us in His holiness. 

So hold life a little looser and dream bigger — that desire on your heart is how God will fashion your soul for heaven. 

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Copyright 2025 Helen Syski
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