What Does The Bible Say About Being Intentional?
Being intentional is all about living deliberately and with purpose. In a world full of distractions, intentionality allows us to align our actions with our values and priorities.
If you’re short on time, the Bible encourages living an intentional life devoted to godly principles and mindful choices that honor God and serve others.
In this comprehensive guide, we will explore several biblical perspectives on intentionality, including key verses, examples of intentional living, benefits and challenges, and practical tips for becoming more purposeful in your daily walk.
Defining Intentionality from a Biblical Perspective
The Meaning of Intentionality
When we think about living with intention from a biblical viewpoint, it refers to making choices and plans in alignment with godly principles and values. Being intentional involves consciously and thoughtfully directing our actions, words, attitudes, and priorities rather than coasting through life passively.
Several verses in the Bible emphasize the importance of living deliberately and purposefully to please God and produce good fruit in our lives. As Jesus said in John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”
This indicates we should thoughtfully order our lives around fulfilling God’s purposes.
Key Verses about Intentional Living
Here are some other insightful Bible passages about living intentionally:
How Intentionality Aligns with Biblical Values
Approaching life biblically involves filtering our choices and habits through God-honoring values and perspectives. Some key values intentional living aligns with include:
Stewardship | Making the most of our gifts, resources, and opportunities |
Wisdom | Carefully evaluating decisions and priorities |
Excellence | Striving to do our best in all we do as for God himself (Colossians 3:23) |
Self-Control | Purposefully directing desires, actions, and attitudes |
In the end, intentionality from a Christian perspective is about wholeheartedly pursuing God’s purposes for our lives through every decision and season. As Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us, God has good plans for us, so staying aligned with his values is key for living intentionally.
Intentional living is a constant process that shapes our character over a lifetime. But with God’s wisdom and help, we can increasingly order our days around eternal priorities that count for his kingdom.
Examples of Intentionality in the Bible
Jesus’s Purposeful Ministry
The Gospels depict Jesus as extremely intentional throughout his 3-year ministry. He deliberately chose 12 disciples to mentor (Luke 6:12-16). He intentionally traveled to spread his teaching, even when tired or seeking solitude (Mark 1:35-39).
Jesus firmly resisted distraction and resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem, predicting his crucifixion awaiting there (Luke 13:31-33). Ultimately, Jesus intentionally gave his life to fulfill his mission of redemption, declaring “It is finished” once his work was completed (John 19:30).
Paul’s Intentional Missionary Journeys
The book of Acts records the apostle Paul embarking on three extensive missionary journeys to spread the Gospel. Paul strategically targeted key urban centers in the Roman Empire to plant churches. For example, he stayed 18 months in Corinth establishing the church there, longer than most stops (Acts 18:11).
Though facing major hardships, including beatings, stonings, imprisonment, and shipwrecks, Paul tenaciously pursued his evangelistic aims (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). His focused efforts helped launch Christianity as a worldwide religion.
Ruth’s Commitment to Naomi
The Old Testament book bearing her name shows Ruth steadfastly committing to her mother-in-law Naomi. After both women were widowed, Naomi decided to return to Israel while Ruth could have resumed her Moabite life. Yet Ruth insists on accompanying Naomi, pledging “Where you go I will go” (Ruth 1:16).
Ruth then faithfully works to provide for Naomi, intentionally selecting fields owned by their kinsman-redeemer Boaz to glean grain (Ruth 2:2-3). Ruth’s purposeful care for Naomi ultimately ushered both women into Jesus’ lineage as ancestors of King David and Jesus.
The Benefits of Leading an Intentional Life
Deepening Your Relationship with God
Living with intention can greatly deepen your relationship with God. Setting aside consistent time for prayer, Bible study, and worship helps you stay connected to God amidst life’s busyness. It demonstrates your commitment to knowing Him more.
As you intentionally seek God daily, your understanding of His character deepens. You’ll gain wisdom for applying biblical principles to daily choices. Your faith will grow stronger through seeing God’s faithfulness.
Times of prayer and solitude with God renew your spirit and realign your priorities with His purposes.
Being intentional can also increase your awareness of God’s presence and activity in your life. You’ll notice more of His blessings and guidance if you’re looking for them. Staying focused on God will shape your words, actions and attitude to be more Christlike.
As you yield your will to His, the Holy Spirit transforms you increasingly into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18). Your intentional pursuit of God expresses love for Him and desire to glorify Him.
Serving Others More Effectively
An intentional approach to life allows you to serve others with greater skill and compassion. Setting routines provides needed structure for doing regular good works. You can think through how to best steward your time and resources for making a difference.
Planning ahead for service opportunities honors others by showing you value them. It prevents forgetting or neglecting to help when needs arise.
Living intentionally also equips you to serve wisely. You’ll spend time listening to understand others’ situations and challenges. As you regularly pray for them, God will reveal specific ways to help. Your focused efforts can meet significant needs instead of just urgent ones.
Thoughtful preparation magnifies your impact in meaningful service.
Setting a Godly Example
Leading an intentional, God-focused life sets a powerful example for others. Your priorities shine through in how you spend time and resources. When you regularly study Scripture, pray, worship and serve, others take note. They see your values stem from walking closely with God.
Your intentional engagement with Him becomes contagious. Others are prompted to pursue their own relationship with Him.
An intentional approach also models wise stewardship of life. As you prayerfully plan activities and balance commitments, you show how to honor God in all you do. Your deliberate reliance on the Spirit teaches others to seek and follow His guidance.
By doing good works as God leads you, your life points to His grace and truth. Your intentional pursuit of God shows what it means to live for His glory alone.
Challenges of Living Intentionally
Saying No to Distractions
In our fast-paced world filled with technology and constant stimuli, distractions can easily prevent us from living intentionally. Emails, social media, TV shows, and other digital disruptions clamor for our attention and steal our focus.
According to a recent study, the average person checks their phone 96 times a day, allowing frequent distractions that fragment our time and mental energy.
To live intentionally, we must cultivate the discipline to say “no” to distractions and protect spaces for reflection, relationship building, skill development, and other meaningful activities aligned to our core values and priorities.
This may involve practices like turning off notifications, scheduling focus time, taking social media fasts, or being more mindful of how we spend free moments during the day.
Combating Fleeting Passions
Humans are often driven by emotions and desires that quickly fade. Psychologists call these fleeting passions – intense interests that temporarily seduce our attention before diminishing just as rapidly.
Examples include binge-watching a new TV show, impulse shopping, seeking out junk food, and other short-lived cravings that fail to align with our deeper aspirations.
To live intentionally, we must recognize fleeting passions when they arise and refuse to act on them blindly. This self-awareness allows us to combat impulses in the moment and instead dedicate time and resources solely toward longer-lasting goals, relationships, and personal fulfillment.
Just as saying “no” to distractions builds discipline, identifying and overcoming fleeting passions leads to greater maturity and intentional living over time.
Making Time for Reflection
With demanding work schedules, family responsibilities, and many media options competing for attention, few practices are harder today than simply setting aside time to reflect. Yet reflection provides clarity about priorities, crystallizes lessons from experience, cements learning, and fuels renewed intentionality.
Regular reflection can take many forms – journaling, meditating, discussing ideas with a friend, taking nature walks, or simply sitting in solitude. But without blocking off time for contemplation, achieving long-term intentional living becomes nearly impossible amidst the daily hustle.
So while rejecting distractions and fleeting passions lays a foundation, ultimately our intentions must also be rooted in self-examination, discernment, and the refreshed perspective that reflection makes possible.
Tips for Cultivating Intentionality In Your Life
Start with Prayer and Scripture
Beginning each day with prayer and scripture reading is a powerful way to cultivate intentionality (Ephesians 5:15-17). As you start your day communing with God, ask Him to guide your thoughts and actions. Let His word shape your priorities and perspective.
Apps like Bible.com make it easy to access plans for regular scripture reading.
Define Your Priorities and Values
It’s essential to define what matters most so you can live intentionally. Set aside time for self-reflection to identify your core priorities and values. Think about what brings you meaning and purpose. Write out personal and professional mission statements.
Revisit these periodically to realign as needed. Resources like MindTools provide steps for creating a personal mission statement.
Create Habits That Align with Your Goals
Transform your priorities into reality by building habits and routines that align with your goals. For example, if health is a priority, develop exercise and eating habits that support fitness. Use cues like tying your workout clothes before bed to trigger the habit.
Scheduling time for important activities also helps. Tools like Fabulous coach you through habit formation. Stay consistent, but be flexible enough to maintain realistic expectations.
Conclusion
Living with biblical intentionality allows us to block out distractions and craft a deliberate life centered around godly principles. By continually realigning our actions, priorities, and habits with spiritual values, we can honor God through purposeful service, strengthened character, and committed relationships.
While staying focused requires effort, the intentional Christian life richly rewards those who steadfastly devote themselves to glorifying God by investing themselves fully into righteous living every step of life’s journey.