Sayings St. Maximus the Confessor,St. Mark the Ascetic & St. Gregory the Dialogist ~ The Intention

   In all of our deeds God looks at the intention, whether we do it for His sake, or for the sake of some other intention.

(St. Maximus the Confessor, Chapters on Love, 2:36)    


   God values deeds according to their intentions. For it is said, "The Lord grant unto you according to your heart" (Ps. 19:5) ... Therefore, whoever wants to do something but can't is considered as having done it by God, who sees the intentions of our hearts. This applies to both good and evil deeds alike.

(St. Mark the Ascetic, Homilies, 1.184, 2.16)    


If the intention is unclean, the deed that follows from it will also be evil, even if it seems good.

(St. Gregory the Dialogist, Conversations, 1.10)


Source:

http://orthodox.cn/patristics/300sayings_en.htm