Mormon Motives: The Truth about Good Intentions

God doesn’t judge your good intentions. He judges your actions. And that’s a problem—for all of us!

So many people claim that they’re not worried about judgment day, because “God sees their heart, and knows that they’ve tried to do the best they could.” But did you know that the Bible teaches….that doesn’t matter! Even if your heart was genuine, God will still judge you.

If you don’t believe me – let me prove that to you by examining the story of Uzzah and the Ark of the Covenant.

Uzzah and The Ark of God

In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant was a sacred and symbolically powerful artifact representing God’s presence among His people. In 2 Samuel, King David decided to move the Ark into Jerusalem. But during the journey, an unfortunate event occurred.

2 Samuel 6:6-7 recounts the story:

And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. (2 Samuel 6:6-7).

Uzzah saw the ark stumbling, and about to fall. His desire to keep the ark from falling and getting dirty seemed to stem from good intentions. And yet – God struck him down because of this sin. 

You see, in Numbers 4, God had given specific instructions on how the Ark should be carried. It should have been carried by the Levites and not touched by anyone else. Though he had good intentions, Uzzah disregarded God’s command by grasping the Ark—which resulted in his death.

Intentions don’t excuse actions

I think this story helps us understand a critically important point: Intentions don’t excuse our actions. Jesus makes this exact point in the Gospel of Matthew. He said,

What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” (Matthew 21:28-31).

Someone can have good intentions, but if they fail to do what God has asked, they will be judged.

So now let me ask you – what if your good intentions have led you to act in ways that contradict God’s commands? How could you know what to do? Maybe your heart intends to do right…but so did Uzzah’s.

We need to look to what God has revealed. Just as Uzzah should have known the command of the Lord in Numbers 4, we must know what God has commanded.

So what?

Many Latter-day Saints believe that we, as Christians, make a big deal out of minor issues when we discuss the differences between the LDS faith and Christianity. So many say – “even if I’m wrong, God knows that I tried to do what is right. God knows that I loved Jesus Christ. And He wouldn’t judge me for that.”

But the Bible teaches that He will judge all wrongdoing—even if we have good intentions. You and I must diligently search out what God has revealed in the Bible, to see whether how we’re living accords with what He’s said.

Don’t assume that your good intentions will give you a free pass on judgment day. They won’t.