Thought #21 — A hard blow

Renato Cardoso's Blog

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Posted: 29 Jun 2014 08:14 PM PDT Part of the series “40 Thoughts of Jesus.” View all previous here, but first learn how the purpose works here.   You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck 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 5.27-29 I was a teenager when I came across this thought of Jesus for the first time. I felt like all the other men who have already read this must have felt: the worst adulterer on the face of the earth. After all, the life of a teenage boy is pretty much about looking at and lusting for every woman that is not his mother, his grandmother or Ms. Malevolent — that school teacher that not even Frankenstein wants to have as a friend. (For some reason, every school has a Ms. Malevolent. Something out of this world.) “But why?” – I’d ask, sounding like the child that would like to eat the desert before the lunch but his mother won’t allow him. I could not understand why Jesus would have to strike us men with such a hard blow. And I struggled with that for a long time. Eventually, I understood that the idea is “do not start something you can’t finish” or “do not start what will wind up in a way you’ll regret”. And that applies for both men and women, for when He elaborated on the thought, He spoke about plucking out the eye or cutting off the hand so they will not lead you into a full-blown mistake. Cutting the evil by its root is always the best strategy. If you are not going actually to go to bed with that person, then why lust for her in your heart? Just so you’ll suffer? To emotionally detach yourself from your spouse? To give birth to this desire, then actually commit adultery and finish with your marriage? Isn’t it better not to lust? Notice, though, that Jesus did not condemn looking, but rather lusting. He who has eyes, inevitably looks at and notices another person. But it stops right there. If just noticing escalades into lusting, then it is better to “pluck out the eye”, as it says. In other words, then it’s better not even to look. Application: Identify the small actions or thoughts that induce you to bigger mistakes. Cut them off by the root. What do you need to “pluck out” of your life that is inducing you into bigger mistakes? Have you ever had problems in your relationship because your partner got upset with your looks at people of the opposite sex. Leave your comments