Cut It Off
"If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." – Matthew 5:29
Jesus didn’t tell us to cope with sin. He told us to cut it off. He wasn’t telling you to literally rip your eye out or chop your hand off. That’s not the point. He was using strong language to make something painfully clear. When it comes to sin, especially sexual sin, partial measures won’t work. Sin doesn’t need management. It needs elimination.
In Jewish culture, the right eye and right hand represented your best eye and strongest hand. So when Jesus said to get rid of them if they cause you to sin, what He was really saying was, “Give up whatever you have to in order to stay pure.” Even if it’s your best. Even if it’s your strongest. That app. That show. That person. That habit. If it traps you, it’s not worth keeping.
Sin is like bait in a trap. The moment you touch it, something springs, and you're caught before you even know what happened. That’s why Jesus said to deal with it before it gets to that point. Stop making room for it. Stop playing with it. Stop managing it. Kill it before it kills you.
Romans 13 says to make no provision for the flesh. That means if you’re serious about freedom, you can’t leave sin a spare key. You can’t keep one drawer, one text thread, one little window open. Colossians says to put it to death. Not hide it. Not excuse it. Kill it.
This is a call to radical obedience. Jesus didn’t soften His words. Neither should we. If something is pulling you away from God, pulling you into impurity, or pulling you into guilt and shame, cut it off. Your soul is worth more than whatever that thing is offering you. And if you don’t let it go now, it will cost you more later.
Jesus didn’t tell us to cope with sin. He told us to cut it off. He wasn’t telling you to literally rip your eye out or chop your hand off. That’s not the point. He was using strong language to make something painfully clear. When it comes to sin, especially sexual sin, partial measures won’t work. Sin doesn’t need management. It needs elimination.
In Jewish culture, the right eye and right hand represented your best eye and strongest hand. So when Jesus said to get rid of them if they cause you to sin, what He was really saying was, “Give up whatever you have to in order to stay pure.” Even if it’s your best. Even if it’s your strongest. That app. That show. That person. That habit. If it traps you, it’s not worth keeping.
Sin is like bait in a trap. The moment you touch it, something springs, and you're caught before you even know what happened. That’s why Jesus said to deal with it before it gets to that point. Stop making room for it. Stop playing with it. Stop managing it. Kill it before it kills you.
Romans 13 says to make no provision for the flesh. That means if you’re serious about freedom, you can’t leave sin a spare key. You can’t keep one drawer, one text thread, one little window open. Colossians says to put it to death. Not hide it. Not excuse it. Kill it.
This is a call to radical obedience. Jesus didn’t soften His words. Neither should we. If something is pulling you away from God, pulling you into impurity, or pulling you into guilt and shame, cut it off. Your soul is worth more than whatever that thing is offering you. And if you don’t let it go now, it will cost you more later.
Subscribe
If you were blessed by or directly benefited from this content, please subscribe to receive receive daily devotions to your inbox.
No Comments