Intentions

Living Liberty Today with Charlie Earl

Good intentions are sometimes dangerous things. Think of the stereotypical Jewish mother who badgers her artistically gifted son to major in pre-med. The patients would be at risk, and the art galleries would suffer loss. Intentions are thought-driven or emotionally based ideas about an action choice. We don’t always follow our intentions, especially when there appears to be a better or safer alternative. Personally, I’ve generated more mayhem when I blurt out or execute an intention than when I weigh my options and choose a wiser course. In the legislative and governmental arena, we often see actions that begin with benign intent but morph into unmanageable monstrosities. The failure to pause and consider potential repercussions (or blatantly ignoring them) leads to the governmental morass.

Consider the recent chaos in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Two people, U.S. citizens are dead because they allowed their emotional state to lead them into danger. Their intentions were negated by their actions. Their intentions caused them to foolishly engage in risky behavior. If their intents were to assist illegal immigrants and protect them from ICE, they failed, and their vulnerability was compounded by carelessly driving a vehicle in a threatening manner and carrying a loaded handgun into a volatile situation. Their intentions may have been good and merciful, but the outcomes were deadly. Clearly, not all intentions are rational.

In the past decade ‘present’ or ‘being present’ was the telltale utterance of the truly empathetic socially conscientious individual. Currently ‘intentional’ appears to have supplanted present as the preferred mantra. So what? Just because something or some action is intentional doesn’t mean it’s right or effective. If I intend to punch you in the nose, my intent is probably not the right way to get and hold your attention. Intentions are like feelings. They are unreliable and fickle. They are frequently wispy and not fully formed. I don’t have any hardcore data, but I suspect that many people have lost their lives because of good intentions gone awry. Indeed, good intentions when thoroughly analyzed and thoughtfully planned can be positive forces even when empathetically applied.

As you probably know, I tend to close my columns with a sermonette. While we spend much of our lives doing routine tasks, we sometimes respond reactively to the abnormal situations we encounter. Thus, despite my earlier criticism of intentions, I believe Christians must act intentionally. Our fallen nature inherited from Adam inclines us to sinful thoughts and behavior. When we respond to God’s call and profess our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord, we receive the Holy Spirit as a guide and helper. So, we must be intentional about listening for the Spirit’s prompts. We must be intentional about following or obeying His directions. We must be intentional when we seek to follow Christ. We must be intentional with our daily prayers when we talk with God our Father. We must be intentional as we study His Word, His love letter to us, His revealing Himself to us, His guidebook for us. As long as the Accuser roams the Earth, we must be intentional in our efforts to deny him any influence over our lives.

Our intentions are not emotionally driven whims but are reasoned and … well, intentional. We have the power of the Holy Spirit, the grace of Christ, and the communication with The Father to bolster our knowledge, understanding and wisdom of the Word. Altogether they give us the means and the will to walk an intentional path that is pleasing to God. Finally, our walk and our intention will be evident by our fruit. May yours be bountiful…eternally and intentionally.