There is a proverb which says ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’
It perhaps echoes Jesus’s words about the narrow and wide roads in Matt 7:13-14: ‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.‘ Certainly it indicates that for us to live well (and arrive at the best destination!), we need more than good intentions.
Eugene Peterson says ‘Good intentions are worthless if they are not coupled with character development… Intentions must mature into commitments if we are to become persons with definition, with character, with substance.’ (‘Run With The Horses’, P 161) We all know people who are well-meaning, full of enthusiasm and good ideas, but who lack follow-through. Casting Crowns tackle this dilemma in their song ‘The Altar and the Door’, which looks at how easily we make vows before God at the altar and yet fail to fulfil these in our everyday lives. (‘How can I be sure I will not lose my follow through between the altar and the door?’)
Clearly, we need help if our good intentions are to mature into commitments. God Himself does not lack follow through (in their song ‘Dream For You,’ Casting Crowns say ‘Just trust me, I will follow through; You can follow me.’ ) He is utterly faithful to fulfil every promise He makes (2 Cor 1:20). Rend Collective’s song ‘Faithful’ reminds us:
‘There’s no words that You’ve spoken
That haven’t brought hope
No promise You’ve made
You haven’t fulfilled…You’re faithful to the end.’
Our part, as Hebrews 10:23 reminds is, is to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess because He who promised is faithful. As we hold on to God, He shapes and re-shapes us, defines and re-defines us, gives us substance and character which enable us to grow into the people He has called us to be, people of inestimable worth and value, people who persevere, people who ‘deal with the reality of life, discover truth, create beauty, act out love.’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘Run With The Horses’, P 150)