What are Your Intentions?

I remember my husband asking this question to our oldest son’s first girlfriend when they started dating. The look on her face was one of shock, and I wanted to crawl under the table They didn’t date very long after that but stayed friends. I think the question caught her off guard and scared her a little bit. They did date again later and got married and now have a beautiful little family.

But seriously, what are your intentions? Another way to say it: What do you want to be intentional about? Do you merely want to have good intentions, or be intentional with whatever you face? This might sound a bit hard, but it really isn’t.

Let me explain…

To be intentional in doing something means making up your mind to do it to the best of your ability. It might not be easy when you first make up your mind, but it does get easier. One day you will realize it has become part of your very nature to do the thing you set out to do intentionally.

Let’s look at three areas to be intentional in.

1. Be intentional with yourself. (If you don’t know HIM as your savior yet, please seek that relationship.) If you are having a hard time with self-esteem, are in a dark place, feel like giving up, remind yourself of who you are in Christ. You were chosen by HIM. (Jn 15:16). HE gave HIS life for you (Jn 3:16). You are loved (Rom 5:8). You are a child of GOD (Gal 3:26, 2 Cor 6:18, Rom 8:14, Gal 4:7).

2. Be intentional with your relationship with others. Spend time with people. Get to know them. Sometimes people might need to be loved on. They might need to just have a listening ear. How can you win people to the LORD or guide them when they are in a bad/dark spot if you are not intentional in what you say to them or how you treat them. TURN YOUR LIGHT ON! When it’s dark, it takes a little bit of effort to turn on the light. We want to intentionally get rid of the darkness. When we have JESUS, the true light of the world (Jn 12:46), “we are the light of the world, a city on a hill which cannot be hid” (Mat 5:14). When people in a dark place see the light, they are drawn to it, because they want to get out of the darkness. According to 1 Peter 3:15, we must be ready to tell people who ask what this light and hope is that we have in us. By being ready to share, we might bring someone to or back to the LORD. Colossians 4:6 says, “Let Your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know what you ought to say to each one. All of this we must do in order to follow Christ’s commandment of loving one another. (Jn 13:34, Rom 12:10, Jn:15:12).

3. Be intentional in your relationship with GOD. GOD wants us to spend time with HIM. How do we do that? We intentionally set aside a time for just you and HIM. I have some people say that it’s like setting an appointment. And you don’t want to miss it. We want GOD to answer our prayers, but are we willing to seek HIS heart in order to know what we should be praying for? When we read HIS word and pray, we know HIS heart. And our heart’s desire should line up with HIS. When we have this kind of relationship with GOD, then Jn 14:13 is so true: “And whatever you ask in MY name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

Colossians 3:23 says “and whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the LORD and not to men.” Ask yourself, “Why am I doing this? To be given accolades by those around me, of to glorify the FATHER?” WHAT ARE OUR INTENTIONS?