It might sound strange to our ears to say that we need to beware of our good intentions, for Scripture commends purity of heart (Matt 5:8) and integrity in our motives (2 Cor 4:2). The Spirit actively enables us to walk with Christ with sincerity and honesty. Certainly, no Christian should ever desire to act with evil intentions (Gen 6:6; 1 Cor 10:6).
Nevertheless, it is not enough for disciples of Jesus Christ to act with good intentions. As Scripture shows us, there may be times when good intentions lead to disobedience against God and harmful consequences for those whom we are aiming to serve.
Saul’s “Good Intentions”
Most importantly, we must realize that good intentions do not necessarily guard us from disobedience. Consider Saul’s unlawful sacrifice. When Israel found themselves in trouble in their battle against the Philistines, Saul sought the Lord’s favor by offering a sacrifice. The problem was that Samuel was the only one authorized to offer sacrifices. Despite Saul’s appeal to his intentions—he was seeking the favor of the Lord—Samuel rebuked the king for his sinful behavior: “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you” (1 Sam 13:13). Saul may have had noble aims—he had exercised patience while waiting for Samuel to arrive, he wanted to save God’s people, and he desired God’s favor in his military leadership—but his motives were irrelevant to the question of whether he obeyed what God had commanded.
We see a similar problem again with Saul in his attack against the Amalekites. Samuel, speaking for God, told Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites. This instruction included all people and all animals. Saul, however, spared Agag the king of the Amalekites and the best of the livestock. When Samuel confronted Saul about his failure to complete the Lord’s command, Saul responded,
I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal (1 Sam 15:20).
Although God had clearly told Saul to destroy every living thing in Amalek, he acted presumptuously by selectively obeying the Lord’s instruction. First, he kept the king alive. We are not told why Saul refused to kill Agag—perhaps he wanted to be merciful or make a spectacle of Agag in Israel. Either way, his decision to spare the Amalekite king was defiance against God.
We are told, however, why Saul kept the best of the livestock: he wanted to provide animals for sacrifice. Surely, the Lord will be pleased with more sacrifices. He’s commanded such sacrifices for his glory and for the good of his people! But Saul’s intentions were irrelevant, for he had disobeyed the Lord’s command. The sacrifices, though potentially abundant due to the large spoil, were meaningless. Although God had instructed that Israel offer sacrifices under the Mosaic covenant, those sacrifices would not please him if they coincided with disobedience against other clear commands. In Saul’s case, his “righteous” reason for sparing the livestock did not please God at all. “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams” (1 Sam 15:22). Good intentions—even intentions that include religious service to God—are not sufficient. God does not only want our good intentions—he wants our obedience.
Uzzuh’s “Helpful” Service
We also see this principle illustrated graphically in an incident involving the ark of the covenant (2 Sam 6:1-11). While David and his men were transporting the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, it became unstable. Not wanting the ark to be disgraced by falling to the ground, Uzzah reached out to stabilize it. God’s anger was immediately kindled, however, and he killed Uzzah on the spot. In this case, we have a wholesome motive—Uzzah wanted to keep the ark from falling to the ground—that was met with God’s anger. God had made it clear in the Law that no one, not even the priests, was to touch the ark (see Num 4:15). Uzzah’s noble intentions were completely irrelevant: he had disobeyed God and therefore received a severe judgment.
Love is Not Enough
When Paul prayed for the Philippian church, he asked the Lord to cause their love to grow “in all wisdom and discernment” (Phil 1:9). Why did the apostle pray this way? Because it’s not enough to have feelings of love for other people and to act with the aim of “serving” or “helping” them. We also need wisdom and discernment so that our love will express itself in ways that truly glorify God and truly benefit others. It’s possible to act with what we perceive as a good intention while working at cross-purposes with God and actually harming others.
A parent, for example, may have strong feelings of love for their child, but if those affections lead to overindulging the child and neglecting appropriate discipline, the child will not benefit from the parent’s good intentions. Indeed, the child will be harmed in significant ways (see Prov 13:24; 29:15). A Christian may want to serve Christ and his church, but if they do it according to their own wisdom, they won’t be pleasing the Lord or bless others with their work. They may even end up doing what is spiritually injurious to those they are seeking to serve.
By suggesting that we must beware of our good intentions, I am not suggesting that we don’t consider our motives when we seek to serve and bless others. The cross has justified us, and the Spirit has cleansed our consciences (Rom 3:21-26; Heb 10:22), so that we might walk in purity of heart (2 Tim 2:22). Nevertheless, rather than judging our actions by our intentions, we must judge our actions by their compliance to God’s Word. Are we obeying what God has clearly instructed, or our we leaning on our good intentions? As we’ve seen, good intentions do not guarantee that we’ve acted obediently, or that our actions will benefit the people we are aiming to serve.
Admittedly, it is often easier to rely on our good intentions rather than to think carefully through God’s written Word and to apply it to our present situation. But ease must not be the metric of faithfulness (see Matt 7:13-14). It takes grace-empowered effort to discern God’s will, which is why Paul exhorts the Ephesians to “not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph 5:17).
Have you ever acted from what you perceived was a good intention but was in conflict with other clear biblical principles? I know I have. Our tendency is to trust in ourselves, which is why Scripture repeatedly warns us to not “lean on our own understanding” (Prov 3:5) or to “trust in [our] own mind” (Prov 28:26).
For example, we may have the noble intention of providing for our family (1 Tim 5:8) that leads us to neglect regular fellowship and worship with the body of Christ (Heb 10:23-24). A person gifted in evangelism may, out of zeal for the lost, take up too much time at work sharing the gospel while not giving adequate attention to their assigned tasks (Eph 6:5-9). A tender-hearted Christian may give financial resources to a relative in need, only to enable that relative’s unhealthy, destructive lifestyle (2 Thess 3:10). A parent, out a good desire to see their child succeed in their endeavors, may complete their child’s responsibilities for them, not allowing them to develop time-management skills, persistence, diligence, and other important qualities (Prov 20:4; 21:5; 22:29; Eph 5:16; Col 3:23). Even more serious, we may, out of a godly desire to see our children saved, lead them too quickly to profess faith in Christ and assure them that they are right with God rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to create genuine repentance and assurance in their heart in God’s timing (2 Tim 2:25; Rom 8:16). A Christian young man may, out of desire to see his unbelieving girlfriend come to Christ, remain in a relationship that Scripture doesn’t condone (2 Cor 6:14).
Conclusion
We could multiply examples. The point of listing these scenarios is to demonstrate how easy it is to be led by our good intentions away from the path of obedience. We cannot rely on our good intentions or appeal to them in order to exempt ourselves from acting foolishly or in direct disobedience to God’s Word. But as we grow in our knowledge of God’s Word and develop Scripture-saturated discernment skills, we will be increasingly able to “approve what is excellent” and experience the joy of knowing that what we are doing what pleases our heavenly Father (Phil 1:10-11).
