There is a point about the goal of Christian teaching made clear in 1 Timothy 1. The goal is not knowledge for knowledge’s sake, and it's not rule-keeping even for order’s sake. The aim is love. It always has been. And, as we are faithful, it always will be. Everything God reveals, every word of instruction, every act of grace, draws us deeper into love. The love we experience in Christ is love rooted in God's goodness and leads to a faith that is genuine.
Ilia Delio, in The Unbearable Wholeness of God, describes creation itself as moving toward unity in God’s love. She sees the universe not as random fragments of space matter but as a whole. The universe is bound together in divine energy, divine love that always leans toward connection and communion. What Paul said to Timothy two thousand years ago, Delio reminds us again today: the point of it all is love.
Now, our temptation, then, is to fragment. To separate faith from daily living. To split knowledge from wisdom. To let convenience dull greater conscience. But love resists this pull. Love draws together what is divided. Love heals what is broken and brings wholeness. 
When Paul insists that instruction must lead to love, he’s pointing us to this wholeness of God. Part of wholeness is a pure heart, one not divided by selfish motives. A good conscience, one aligned with God’s wholeness, not fractured by guilt or compromise. A sincere faith, one that is honest, not performance-driven. These three work together like strands woven into one cord and they form a life of love.
So, the aim of all our teaching, praying, and living? Wholeness. Love. God pulling us into communion with one another and with all creation.
Today, may your words, thoughts and actions flow from a heart made whole in Christ. Because love is the wholeness of God alive in you, let the aim of your faith always be love.
Stay blessed...john | 
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