Goals & Objectives

Nº 355

May 20, 2025

O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire Thee with our whole heart; that, so desiring, we may seek, and seeking find Thee; and so finding Thee may love Thee; and in loving Thee, may hate those sins from which Thou hast redeemed us. - Anselm

Setting clear goals and identifying objectives to reach those goals keeps us focused and effective. This is true in organizations and the Christian life. Paul reminded Timothy of the Christian’s overarching goal of love, then provided three objectives that lead that direction.

“The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart, and a clear conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5)

Love is the big goal. Paul simply affirmed Jesus’ command to love one another (John 13:34). But he also provided three essential objectives to produce an authentic love for God and others.

First, a pure heart. We should strive to honor God in what we say and do, keeping ourselves pure. But we all fall short of the first objective. We all wish we could remove a sinful act or take back a harsh word. So, Paul reminds us of the second objective.

Second, a clear conscience. We should learn from the past but not dwell on it. Don’t wallow in guilt. Accept God’s forgiveness and move forward into new and renewed opportunities to show love.

Third, sincere faith. What we believe matters; we should learn all we can. But not merely to know more, rather to love more.

Excelsior,

Dan Bolin