Don’t use illegitimate means to accomplish legitimate ends. It’s an adage my wife Marilynn taught our kids to stop and consider before moving forward toward a goal.
Said another way: The ends don’t justify the means.
To accomplish this truth, you need to make wise choices, every single day of your life. Have godly principles by which you live to help make those choices. Start with the 10 Commandments. Use Jesus’s teachings in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12).
As we continue to make the right decisions, over time, we are ultimately choosing life over destruction (Deuteronomy 30:19).
When you then do the right thing for the right reasons, you will arrive at the right end. Legitimate means that lead to a legitimate end.
Then, when we finally appear before Jesus as we begin our eternal life, we will hear these priceless words: “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).