Our intentions matter greatly. I’d venture to say that our intentions matter so much more than our actions themselves. It is the condition of our heart that matters to the Father. As so the Word says… “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Man wrongly judges many times, as we so often look with our natural eyes at things. But discernment and a closer look at the heart of another person will change our perspective about what is really going on beneath their actions. People can say all the right things, appear to be serving better than someone else, and even seem to preach the right message, but God looks inwardly. Our intentions matter.
When we let go of trying to please man and comparing ourselves to one another, we can truly evaluate our intentions and the condition of our hearts toward God. When we have good intentions, our actions will match up, but don’t just look at the actions of another person to decide if they are holy or not- it’s our heart that pleases God.
Just look at David- he messed up and many disagreed with how he did things, but the Lord continued to use him because God said David was a man after His own heart. David loved the Lord and had a repentant, humble heart and because of this the Lord was able to use him greatly and he is now talked about among the world thousands of years later.
So take a look at your intentions and the condition of your heart toward things. Don’t compare your actions to another because someone may appear to be doing all the right things yet inwardly they are perishing. Be careful how you judge someone else’s actions- they may not be pleasing to your flesh but if they are pleasing to the Lord then they are hitting the mark, and that’s what matters.
Stay humble and let your intention to please the Lord be your greatest priority.
Hannah Smith, author of the Moving Mountains blog, is a woman who feels she has experienced a lot of life in her 33 years.
At 19 years old, Hannah joined the Army. After moving around the country, getting a divorce and losing what seemed like everything, she landed back where God wanted her in Ohio, even though she fought the whole way. She is now a devoted follower of Christ and seeks the Lord with all she’s got.
Hannah is married and a RN, but works as a stay-at-home mom to her 3 children per instruction from the Lord.
She loves to hike, travel, drink coffee, and talk about Jesus. Hannah also has a heart to create a home and life in which she can be a safe place for the hurting and the broken. Her biggest piece of advice would be to never tell the Lord you will never do something- because He will most likely then ask you to do that very thing, LOL!
To her readers, Hannah says, “I believe that God set every single one of you reading this apart, for such a time as this. It is my hope and prayer that God would use the words I say to change your life in a way you and I never thought possible!”
by leaps and bounds 
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