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Faith-Based Bucket List Ideas for Christians

What is a Bucket List?

A Bucket List is a list of goals, hopes, and experiences one aims to accomplish before they “kick the bucket”. Bucket lists can help clarify the desires we want in our lives so we can better work toward achieving our goals. They can provide us with better focus and motivation, supplying us with the accountability for reaching our goals. 

Now, What is a Faith-Based Bucket List?

A Faith-Based Bucket List is much the same as a Bucket List. The only difference is your goals and experiences you are working toward include also working toward deepening your relationship with God and are aligned with Christian values. 

How to Create a Bucket List

Creating a Bucket List should be a fun and fulfilling process. It shouldn’t be difficult, but you will need to challenge yourself in order to discover what you’d really like to accomplish. 

Envision- Exercise your imagination and envision adventures, encounters, feelings, and objectives you’d like to have in your lifetime. 

Create a Blueprint- Design a plan that you’ll realistically be able to follow in order to reach your target. Map out the details and embark on your trek! 

Devote Yourself- Make a promise to yourself to follow through with your Bucket List. Committing will allow you to better focus on your dreams, causing them to become a reality. 

Enjoy the Process- Seek for meaning and purpose. Take a deep look inside yourself and your values to determine goals that will be rewarding. Above all, have fun! 

Faith-Based Bucket List Ideas

• Read the Bible in a year(there is a Bible reading plan you can follow here )
• Hop on a plane and travel somewhere you’ve always wanted to go
• Attend a Christian concert
• Invite a friend to church
• Donate to your local food pantry
• Tell someone how important they are to you
• Take a trip to Israel 
• Apologize for a past wrongdoing
• Volunteer somewhere
• Go on a mission trip
• Purchase a gift for a pastor
• Make and deliver a meal to someone in your Church Family
• Chaperone a youth mission trip
• Take an underprivileged child under your wings and give them a great Christmas
• Forgive someone
• Watch a faith-based movie
• Keep a prayer journal
• Spend Christmas in Bethlehem
• Lead someone to Christ
• Join a bible study group
• Attend a prayer group
• Memorize 20 Bible verses
• Send a friend a care package
• Buy a homeless person dinner
• Share your testimony
• Attend a service of a different faith
• Celebrate Passover
• Walk the shores of Galilee
• Learn to truly not judge others

Free Printable

Save and print this free printable so you can start writing your own Faith-Based Bucket List.

Before you go…

Remember, identifying your deepest aspirations is a gratifying process. Fulfilling those aspirations can be even more uplifting and beneficial. If you struggle along the way, seek our Father in prayer. He is always there for you, holding you up when you are down; cheering alongside you. 

- Torrance Church of Christ

Why you Shouldn’t Neglect your Spiritual Health

What is Spirituality

Oxford Languages defines spirituality as: the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things. 

This means spirituality encompasses your whole being, what makes you YOU. When your spiritual health is in decline, then you are in decline. 

What is Spiritual Health

So what exactly is spiritual health? Spiritual health is the health of your soul, your spirit. Spiritual health is in a sense akin to your physical or mental health. When you have a broken arm, your physical health is afflicted. When you are feeling depressed or anxious, your mental health is unwell. When you are questioning your purpose in life, this could be a sign that your spiritual health is suffering. 

Why you Need to Sustain your Spiritual Health

Your mental health and your physical health can affect each other. When one is present, the other may not be trailing too far behind. Your spiritual health affects both your mental and physical health. When your spiritual health is unstable, you pose a greater risk of physical and mental impairment. 

Similar to your physical and mental health, your spiritual health will fluctuate throughout your life. This is why it is vital to tend to it and nourish it often. The more you feed your spiritual health, the less trials will bring you down. When your spiritual health is elevated, you’ll be able to bounce back from damaging circumstances less damaged, spared some of the injuries that could have been, giving you access to take notice of the silver lining. 

When you experience sound spiritual health, not only are you creating a safeguard for your mental and physical health, you are weaving a balance between the three, allowing your being to become whole. You will experience greater satisfaction in your life. You’ll be able to discover the meaning in your life, better equipped to live out the purpose God has for you. As you develop spiritually, you begin to develop a deeper relationship with God, as well as experience deeper connections with those around you. And as your relationship with God increases, peace will start to increase, allowing you to manage stress better, and create a life of gratitude. 

How to Maintain your Spiritual Health

• Pray
• Spend time in nature
• Keep a gratitude journal
• Meditate on God’s word
• Go for a walk
• Do some yoga
• Practice deep breathing exercises
• Forgive and let go of the past
• Reflect on your life
• Truly listen to others

Scriptures about Spiritual Health

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. -Proverbs 17:22

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. -Proverbs 16:2

And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.   -Ezekiel 18:4

Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, -Acts 20:7 

Quotes about Spirituality and Spiritual Health

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

"At any moment, you have a choice, that either leads you closer to your spirit or further away from it.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“Spirituality is not about being fixed; it is about God being present in the mess of our unfixedness.” – Michael Yaconelli

“Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from.” – Elizabeth Kübler-Ross

“When you connect to the silence within you, that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you.” – Stephen Richards

“But no matter how much evil I see, I think it’s important for everyone to understand that there is much more light than darkness.” – Robert Uttaro

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” – Denis Waitley

“When we are spiritually healthy, we realize that we exist beyond the physical and our life has a sense of meaning and purpose.” – Robyn L. Gobin

“God's ultimate goal for your life on Earth is not comfort but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ. Christlikeness is all about transforming your character, not your personality.” – Rick Warren

“God will test you because he wants you to grow up. He wants you to mature. He wants you to develop a walk with him that is not based on your fluctuating emotions but on your commitment to him as you learn to walk by faith.” – Greg Laurie

“And above all, remember that the meaning of life is to build a life as if it were a work of art.” – Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

“Anybody can thank God for good things. But when you can thank God even in the bad things, your faith grows and your spiritual roots go deeper.” – Rick Warren

Remember…

Spiritual health is fluid, at times it will waver. However, when you are steadfast in your spiritual journey, you’ll become better able to overcome the periods of low. When your level of spiritual health is high, your actions and words begin to align with God’s values, thereby revealing the purpose that God has for you in this life. It isn’t always an easy task, but you have the Lord by your side to carry you when you stumble. 

- Torrance Church of Christ

The Value of Serving (and some ways you can serve another today!)

We've Been Called to Serve

What is service?

Oxford Languages defines service as:  The action of helping or doing work for someone.

It may be safe to assume that we all have an idea of what service is, however, our personal definitions might contain slight variations. One person may think of service as holding the door open for a stranger, whereas someone else may think of it as donating clothing to a homeless shelter. Another person may see service solely as a paid job, for example, a waiter is serving you your food because they are required to. These are all examples of service, and each one is not more dominant than the other. 

Why should we serve others?

When we serve others, we are following in Christ’s footsteps. Christ spent his mortal life in the service of others and we can see this throughout the Bible. When we serve others, we are building ourselves a solid foundation overflowing with blessings, personal growth, enlightenment, happiness, and inspiration. When you serve another, you are adding value to not only the person you are serving but also yourself. You have the opportunity to positively impact someone’s life. This can inspire whomever you serve to pay it forward, which can create a snowball effect of acts of kindness and good deeds. By your simple action, you can create a shift that has the potential to create a constructive and beneficial difference for humankind. 

How do we find time to serve?

With the hustle and bustle attitude of our modern times, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by all of our commitments and obligations. Between all of society’s expectations, our expectations from our family, and responsibilities at work, it's no wonder so many of us sometimes feel swallowed up. We can become so encompassed with the tasks of our day-to-day lives, that when we do get a break, we want to spend that break resting, catching up on reading, or enjoying a hobby. “I’m just too tired”, is the universal excuse to why we aren’t doing more. We use this excuse in numerous areas of our lives. However, when we use this excuse specifically as to why we cannot serve another, we are overlooking the expectation of the Almighty. He has commanded us to serve. We should learn to prioritize our time to include acts of service. 

Thankfully there is a myriad of approaches you can take to help another person. Many of these methods don’t need to take a lot of time. Because of this, some deeds can easily be implemented into your daily life. 

A Fistful of Service Ideas

• Walk your neighbor's dog
• Greet others with a nod of acknowledgment
• Listen. Listen with the intent to listen. 
• Clean up any litter you come across
• Do a chore for someone in your household that you normally wouldn’t do
• Hold open the door for someone
• Give sincere compliments
• Smile
• Donate books
• Respond to someone rude with kindness and understanding
• Show your support for someone, even if you don’t agree with whatever they need support with
• Pray for others
• Offer up your seat to someone who needs it more
• Keep your promises
• Write and send someone an uplifting note
• Call an old friend
• Pay off someone's overdrawn school lunch account
• Donate canned goods
• Participate in a community clean up
• Volunteer at a food pantry
• Purchase classroom supplies for a teacher
• Plant a tree
• Cook a meal for someone
• Help an elderly person carry their groceries to their car
• Donate blood
• Donate used clothing
• Pay for someone's gas
• If you notice your neighbor’s trash can isn’t at the curb on trash day, bring it out for them
• Are you walking or driving your kids to school? Maybe you can help a friend out by taking their child too
• Donate make-up and feminine hygiene products to a women's shelter
• Babysit for someone in need
• Set up a small monthly donation to your favorite charity
• Mow someone's lawn
• When you see someone is down, don’t avoid them. Instead, sit with them, talk to them, and let them feel your love and concern
• Donate an old wedding or prom dress to make angel gowns
• Help kids with their homework
• Clean up old headstones
• Return someone else's shopping cart along with your own
• Help your neighbor with their gardening
• Volunteer at the library
• Cuddle a newborn, volunteer at the hospital to cuddle newborn infants
• Play games with people at retirement centers
• Purchase someone a book
• Pay for the person behind you in line (it doesn’t matter where you are!)
• Knit beanies and donate them to a cancer center
• Treat your new co-worker to lunch
• Teach a music lesson
• Clean a pregnant person's house
• When you see a group of people taking a photo, offer to take the photo so everyone in their group can be included
• Read to people in the hospital
• Hug someone who needs a hug
• Leave a small gift and note of gratitude for your mail delivery person
• Return store items you’ve decided not to purchase to their original spot
• Hold the elevator door open
• Be someone’s cheerleader
• Collect diapers and donate them

As you can see, serving others is a multifaceted venture. There is no correct or incorrect way to serve someone. There is no way which is better than the other. Do what you can with what resources you have to show your love and support for those you come into contact with. It doesn’t matter if they’re someone you’ve known your whole life or a stranger on the street. When you see an opportunity to nourish another individual, do so. You never know the monumental footprint a simple act can leave.

-Torrance Church of Christ