What are Spiritual Goals?
Jan 29, 2026Summary
Do you feel like your spiritual growth has hit a plateau? Perhaps you are diligently checking off your religious to-do list but feel completely drained and stuck in spiritual stagnation. In this episode of the Arise, Women of God podcast, host Tamara K. Anderson joins Wendi Christensen and guest Tiffany Fletcher to answer the question: What are spiritual goals, really?
We break down the four specific categories of spiritual growth—Physical, Mental, Connection with God, and Connection with Others—and reveal why taking care of your body and mind is actually a spiritual requirement, not a worldly indulgence. Tiffany and Wendi tackle the toxic myth that self-care is selfish, using the powerful "Oxygen Mask" analogy and insights from Brené Brown to prove that you cannot serve from an empty cup. If you are struggling to find time for biblical self-care in your chaotic schedule, we share practical tips for finding "cracks" in your day to connect with God without adding stress. Tune in to learn how to fill your own cup so you can finally serve others from a place of overflow rather than exhaustion.
Episode Takeaways
- The 4 Categories of Spiritual Goals: Spiritual growth isn't just about reading scriptures. It includes:
- Physical: Stewardship of the body (nutrition, exercise) so you have energy to serve.
- Mental: Decluttering the mind (education, therapy) so you can hear the Spirit.
- Connection with God: Deepening your personal relationship.
- Connection with Others: Being a light to God's children.
- The Oxygen Mask Principle: Just as you must secure your own oxygen mask before helping a child on a plane, you must practice biblical self-care to serve effectively. Serving from an empty cup leads to burnout, not blessings.
- Finding the "Cracks": You don't need 5 hours of silence to connect with God. Use the "cracks" in your day—like turning off the radio to pray during your commute—to maintain a constant connection.
- Flip the Script: Wendi suggests using your negative self-talk as a diagnostic tool. If you think "I'm a bad mom," flip that negative thought to create your new positive spiritual goal.
Resource
Ready to identify your next step in physical, mental, or spiritual growth? Download our FREE Guide to Goal Setting. It includes the "Sacred Brainstorm" worksheet to help you hear God’s voice for your specific season. 👉 Download the Guide Here: https://www.womenwarriorsoflight.com/offers/WyaLn2gS/checkout
Reflection Questions
- Which of the 4 categories (Physical, Mental, God-Connection, People-Connection) is most neglected in your life right now?
- Do you secretly believe that taking care of your physical or mental health is "selfish"? How does viewing your body as a temple change that perspective?
- What are the "cracks" in your daily schedule where you could insert a micro-moment of connection with God?
- What is one negative thought you have about yourself, and how can you flip it into a positive spiritual goal?
Transcript
Tamara K. Anderson
00:00:00.800 - 00:00:38.020
Do you feel like your spiritual growth has maybe hit a plateau? Perhaps you're checking off a list, but just not feeling like you're actually moving forward.
Today we're answering the question, what are spiritual goals? And we're breaking them down into four specific categories that will transform your mind, your body, and your connection to God.
And by the end of today's episode, you will know how to identify your next right step step. And solve the pain of spiritual stagnation by learning how to fill your own cup so that you can finally serve others from a place of overflow.
Stay tuned.
Intro/Outro
00:00:38.020 - 00:00:47.820
Ordinary Women Extraordinary Faith When God calls, we say yes.
The Arise Women of God Podcast
Tamara K. Anderson
00:00:47.980 - 00:01:34.080
hello and welcome to another episode of the Arise Women of God podcast. I'm your host, Tamara K. Anderson, and joining me today are Wendi Christensen and Tiffany Fletcher from our Women warriors of Light community.
And today we're diving into the practical side of spiritual growth. First, we're exploring the different categories of spiritual goals, from mental clarity to physical stewardship.
Second, we're tackling the myth that self care is selfish and why taking care of yourself is actually a spiritual requirement. And finally, we'll share how to find the cracks in your busy schedule to connect with God without adding more stress to your life.
Let's kick it off with Tiffany sharing a little bit about the categories of growth.
Tiffany Fletcher
00:01:34.160 - 00:02:42.060
Personal goals are those goals that one improve us and help us to become better than ourselves and also help us do the work of our Heavenly Father like, and just do the work that, that the Lord is inviting us to do.
I think for me, when I think of the categories of spiritual goals, I think there are goals that help improve ourselves, like our physical health, like those are spiritual goals even though they seem like more worldly. But we can't do the Lord's work if we're not exercising and taking in the right nutrients and so goals to be a healthier version of ourself.
I think that there are goals to help us connect more with God's children, to help be a light for them.
I think there's goals that help us connect more with our Heavenly Father and really tune into what he needs us to do and how he needs to accomplish accomplish things. And, and I think that then there are goals that maybe improve our mind. I think sometimes, you know, when we work on our body.
I mentioned before that I'm, I'm in graduate school from, for clinical mental health counseling. And I just feel really strongly that goals to help improve our mind are also spiritual goals. Because if our mind is Cluttered.
We can't hear the spirit. So. So those are my thoughts on the different categories.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:02:42.460 - 00:03:08.320
I love that Tiffany included our physical and mental health in these categories. It reminds me that our bodies are indeed temples. And when our minds are cluttered, it's hard to hear the still small voice.
But this often leads to a struggle for all women. We feel like taking time for our own health or goals is selfish. Wendi and Tiffany have some beautiful examples of why this is a total myth.
Tiffany Fletcher
00:03:08.960 - 00:03:52.080
Just point out Wendi talks about a goal that's serving yourself. I think sometimes, especially as women, we think, oh, that's selfish. That's a selfish thing to create a goal that's serving myself.
But I mean, I. I mean, I hear all the time and, and we really have to think about it.
Like, even when you're flying, the flight attendant says, when the oxygen comes down and the plane's going down, give oxygen to yourself and then give it to your child if you have a child. And I think sometimes we forget to give oxygen to ourselves.
And that is, that is what we need to do, is create goals that will help us so that we can be better at helping others. Because if we're not taking care of ourselves, we're not going to be able to take care and have the energy we need to take care of others.
We're going to deplete ourselves and. And we're not going to be where God needs us to be in order to be who he needs us to be.
Wendi Christensen
00:03:52.320 - 00:05:15.040
I was going to say, I remember reading just along those lines in a book by Brene Brown, the Gifts of Imperfection.
I love that book where she, she introduces the concept because she did a decade of study and research on shame and guilt and what brings them wholehearted living. And one of the things she said in that book was that serving others you cannot do.
You can't help or bless other people if you don't love or take care of yourself first. And I remember when I first read that, I thought, that's not true. That's. That, that can't be true.
You can help other people and you can bless other people even if you don't necessarily love or maybe appreciate yourself. But of course I was wrong, because I've learned since then exactly what Tiffany said.
If you're trying to always serve other people from an empty cup and you're trying to give them, like, oh, let me help you, but I'm drained and exhausted and burned out. There's nothing that I really can do. I'm not going to be able to help that person as effectively as if I take good care of myself.
Where I look at my health and my mental health and where am I at with connections to other people? That's going to allow me to be able to bless and help other people around me, even my family, right? It's going to help them the most.
I can show up as a better mom and a better wife if I'm taking care of myself first and I really, truly can't serve them better.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:05:15.520 - 00:07:04.500
Serving from an empty cup only leads to burnout, not a blessing. God actually commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves, which implies that we have to have a baseline of love and care for ourselves first.
So how do we fit this self stewardship into a life that is already over, brimming with so many responsibilities? And so that first priority has to be our connection with God, because he is the one who fills our inner well.
And if we have that filled, then we are complete and we can then love and serve others. Right? And so if you look at it, we have the commandment, we just need to live it better.
And connecting with God, I think in our brain somewhere we think, oh, well, that means I have to spend five hours a day connecting with God. No, it's in the little things, right? It's saying a prayer while I'm driving in my car.
Yeah, maybe I turned off my radio so that I could have that connection. So we can, especially as women, fit that connecting with God in the cracks of our lives and just asking him, God, you know, I live a busy life.
Help me find those little cracks where I can connect to you, you know, and maybe he'll inspire you, hey, on the way to work, or maybe after you drop your kids off at school, listen to these verses of scripture on the way home, dive into the psalms that will like nourish and lift your soul. Do you know what I mean?
Whatever God inspires you to do, if you take that problem to him, say, hey, I want a better connection so that I feel full and then I can love and serve others. He's going to teach you how to fit it into your life. Right?
Tiffany Fletcher
00:07:05.710 - 00:08:05.470
It's important to remember that it looks different for everyone. What works for one person isn't going to work for the other person.
It's going to be about a relationship between you and God and him saying, hey, do this. This is what's going to help you connect with me.
And we all listen to the spirit differently, we all receive revelation differently, we all feel God's love differently. And so I think it's important that we don't beat ourselves up if we're not doing it like Tamara is, or if we're not doing like Wendy is like.
But we need to do it like we're doing it. And the way we do it may be different than anyone else. And that's okay. And we need to make sure that that we are okay with that.
Like, it is not between. It is not comparing ourselves to anyone else.
It is, it is connecting with God in a relationship that is between him and us, that is magnified by the Spirit, and that allows us to do the things that we need to do while still connecting with our Heavenly Father in order to better do the things that we're asked to do as women in this world.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:08:05.870 - 00:08:28.190
It's all about your personal relationship with him, not a performance for anyone else. Even a tiny goal like rolling out of bed and onto your knees can be the catalyst for an unstoppable day.
We'll conclude with Wendi sharing a final thought on how to turn our negative self talk into our next big spiritual win.
Wendi Christensen
00:08:28.780 - 00:08:52.940
And maybe that's a good way to find out what spiritual goal to set. What are some of the negative things you think about yourself? And turning them to a positive could be your spiritual goal.
So if it's I'm a bad mom or I'm not a good a good human being, okay, what can I do to switch that and turn it into no, how am I a good mom? And that can move you in that direction of that spiritual goal.
Tamara K. Anderson
00:08:53.340 - 00:09:28.240
Whatever category your goal falls into today, remember that you're a daughter of God in training for something glorious.
If you're ready to identify your next step, go download our free A Guide to Goal Setting for Christian Women, which is free on our Women warriors of Light website. We'll drop a link to it in the show notes below.
It will walk you through the sacred brainstorm we talked about today so you can hear God's voice in your life. Until next time, may you arise. Do it God's way. God strong.
Intro/Outro
00:09:28.240 - 00:10:23.350
Thanks for tuning in to the Arise Women of God podcast, brought to you by Women warriors of Light.
If you're feeling unsure how to move forward in your calling or just tired of doing it alone, visit womenwarriorsoflight.com you'll find resources, accountability, and a community of women who get it. Sometimes the calling feels bigger than you. That's when you need steady reminders of the powerful God who called you.
Subscribe now for weekly inspiration and the courage to keep going because with him nothing is impossible. And you're not the only one. God is calling that friend on your heart right now. Share this episode with her.
Your small act of obedience could be the breakthrough she's been praying for. Until next time. May you arise, walk God's way and stand God strong.
