Why Good Intentions Aren’t Enough

Good intentions are good, but they’re not good enough. God desires more from us. We need to walk our talk and thereby prove we’re Christ’s disciples.

Not everyone who calls out to me, “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. (Matthew 7:21 NLT)

Good intentions are good, but they’re not good enough. That’s true for every aspect of life.

Here are a few examples:

We intend to lose weight so we buy a gym membership. Trouble is, good intentions aren’t enough to accomplish our weight loss goal. We have to put our good intentions to work by getting off the couch and using that gym membership before we’ll see results.
We intend to pay off our credit card debt asap. Trouble is, good intentions aren’t enough to help us meet our financial goal. We have to stop impulse buying and implement a budget before we’ll see success.
We intend to strengthen our marriage by learning to communicate more effectively with our partner. Trouble is, good intentions aren’t enough to achieve our goal. We have to turn off social media and commit specific time with our spouse before we’ll enjoy success.

The same principle holds true in the spiritual realm

As followers of Christ, we often have a lot of biblical head knowledge and intend to do something with it, but you know how it goes…

We intend to help the orphan, the widow, and the defenseless as Scripture commands because we want to make a difference in someone’s life. Trouble is, life keeps us so busy that we forget about the needs out there. We have to take action before an orphan or widow will enjoy benefits.
We intend to make prayer a part of our lives because we want to see God’s power at work. Trouble is, that takes discipline and time and energy, and who’s got an abundance of those things nowadays? Regardless, we need to make prayer a practice before we’ll start seeing what God can do.
We intend to forgive someone who’s hurt us because we want nothing to hinder our relationship with Christ. Trouble is, we hold back because our offender shows no sign of repentance. We need to forgive regardless of the offender’s attitude before we’ll experience the freedom Christ desires for us.

Good intentions are good, but they’re not good enough. Talking about our faith is good, but God desires more than that from us. We need to walk our talk and thereby prove we’re Christ’s disciples.

For me, this begins with growing my prayer life.