Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Mission and vision statements are as defining to our individual lives as they are to companies. A person without a vision for his or her life is more prone to lose track of and stray away from a life of integrity and consistency.

Do you want to be a lawyer? A doctor? When do you want to marry and have children? A vision helps us put into order the things that we wish to do in this lifetime.

But perhaps the most important thing that we must know about the mission and vision of our individual lives is that it is not we who set them. We can railroad our plans all we want, but we do not have the authority or the capacity to put definitions to the things that occur in our lives as a whole.

Proverbs 19:21 says, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." How do we build a mission and vision for our lives that align perfectly with the sovereign, good and pleasing will of God?

Keep the vision big

Jeremiah 29:11 is a testament to God not being a small thinker when it says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." When God called Abraham, he looked to bless him and his descendants. When He called David out, he initiated him by defeating a behemoth of a warrior.

God is a big thinker, and when we fail to think big, we fail to think the way God thinks. Although, we can never think as big as God, He encourages us to look to the infinite capacity that we can accomplish through Him.

Make the end goal Christ

Ephesians 1:16-17 tells us, "I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him."

The greatest reward and goal is to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and be empowered by every inch of Him that we experience. Although wealth, knowledge, popularity and success are great and blessed things, all these follow when we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Make the mission about people

If the one goal is to follow Christ, the best way we do this is to love others. John 13:35 says, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." When we love others, we pursue Christ and His character.

Moreover, when we make our lives about others, almost automatically we will build other people around us who will lift us up to the call that God has for us. We are better together and we cannot form a community without being motivated by the sole intent of loving others.