Good Intentions

Answer

Here are three Talmudic sources about the importance of our intentions:

Berachos 5b: People who do what they can, and have good intentions, are rewarded.

Shabbos 63a: If someone intends to perform a commandment, but was unable to do it, he is regarded as if he had done it. (This is derived from the phrase “those who think of His Name” in Malachi 3:16.)

Nazir 23b: A sin performed with good intentions is as great as a good deed performed without good intentions.