Matthew 18:7-9

⁷ “Tragedy is coming to the world because of temptations to sin! Yes, it is necessary that temptations come, but tragedy will come to the one by whom the temptation comes!

⁸ And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, hack it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the permanent fire.

⁹ And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna’s fire. _________________________________________

the will to be responsible

I wrote this a few months ago. My heart was heavy because of yet another moral lapse of a Christian leader – within my own congregation. The shock of this happening so close to home was only equaled by the shame this brought to me, and the sad reality that such things are happening all the time. I wanted to be consoled by God’s word, but my daily reading brought me to this text.

“Perhaps I will have no consolation today. Perhaps the best I can ask for is the will to be responsible before God, my family, and my church family. My eyes are very important to me, but I must be willing to gouge them out if they are leading me to sin. My hands are very important to me, but I must be willing to be responsible for their actions, and hack them off if that will keep me from betraying my Savior. The Lord’s work is too important to entrust to people who cannot control themselves.”

LORD, protect us from our desires, so that your name will be honored in our communities. Keep us from betraying you by being irresponsible.