The Road to Hell Is Paved with BAD Intentions!

Although very old, the aphorism/proverb "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" is NOT found in the Judeo-Christian Bible. Indeed, from a Scriptural perspective, I believe that the exact opposite is true! According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the phrase is "said to emphasize that you must not simply intend to behave well but you must act according to your intentions, because you will have problems or be punished if you do not." Of course, the key word in the phrase is "intentions," meaning what a person has purposed or resolved to do - his/her aim or objective. Hence, a "good" intention would be one with a benign or righteous purpose or resolution behind it.

Conversely, a "bad" intention would be one with a malicious or evil purpose or resolution behind it. Indeed, according to Scripture, the flood was the consequence of God seeing "that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5, ESV) Hence, in that instance, the road to "hell" was clearly paved with bad intentions. This, of course, also suggests that "intentions" are important to God.

Moreover, there are a number of passages in the New Testament which suggest that the intentions of our hearts are important to God. In a number of places, Jesus emphasized that his disciples should be motivated by love (Matthew 22:24-20, John 13:34-35). In the anonymously authored epistle to the Hebrews, we read that "the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12, ESV) In other words, Scripture can help us to see what is motivating us to do something - whether our intentions are good or bad! Indeed, in the epistle attributed to James, we read that "each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."  (James 1:14-15, ESV) In other words, bad leads to bad!

Even so, no one spoke about the role that intention plays in the Christian life more than the Apostle Paul. In his letter to the saints at Rome, Paul wrote: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." (Romans 7:15-25, ESV) Also, in the same epistle, he wrote about the importance of what motivates a person in determining whether or not they remain in the Lord. Finally, in his letter to the saints at Corinth, Paul echoed the essential role that love plays in the Christian life (I Corinthians 13).

Sure, good intentions can become meaningless if the person doesn't make a real effort to put those intentions into practice, but nothing good can follow if the intentions are not good on the front end! Hence, from a scriptural perspective, the road to hell is paved with BAD intentions!