St. Kosmas Aitolos on the importance of our intentions.

Click here to listen to today's episode of Orthodox Life Tips. Never miss an episode by subscribing via RSS or iTunes.

Orthodox Christianity strongly emphasizes how we live and what we do, but even more important is the reason for which we do these things. St. Kosmas Aitolos says two things that really focus on our intentions.

First he says, “If we want to do something but cannot, then before God, who knows our hearts, it is as if we have done it. This is true whether the intended action is good or bad.”

Second, “When we fulfill the commandments in our outward actions, we receive from the Lord what is appropriate; but any real benefit we gain depends on our inward intention.”

Doing good is good, but we need to do it for the right reasons.

You can find more Orthodox Life Tips, and other tools for your life, at orthodoxresource.com and myocn.net.