Yesterday, I had a great conversation with a young man in our church. He was wrestling with some personal sin issues and was looking for help. My advice to him was this: JESUS’ COUNSEL FOR DEALING WITH SIN IS TO CUT IT OFF AT THE SOURCE.
In Matthew 18, Jesus says, “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut 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 eternal fire.” This is a pretty radical and even gruesome statement. And while I don’t believe that this was a literal prescription for dealing with sin, I do believe that Jesus wanted us to take radical steps for dealing with sin.
- If you know you struggle with pornography – get rid of the internet. Trust me Facebook is not that important.
- If being around people drinking alcohol will make you stumble – Stay away from the bar.
- If you there’s a possibility that you’ll hook up with that guy or girl – don’t go out with them. Your relationship with God is more important than the relationship you have with that person, I promise.
- If you know you are tempted to do drugs – don’t hang out with people doing drugs. Unless you have a “special garden” in your basement, the only way you can do drugs is to be around people who have drugs. The radical approach is to cut off those people from your life no matter how hard that might be.
- If playing gold makes you cuss like a drunk sailor – take up knitting. OK, maybe I’m a little off on this one.
The main point is this: Sin may be fun for a moment but hell last for eternity. There is no sin that compares to God’s plan for your life or the eternal joy that will be experienced in Heaven. Keep your eyes focused on eternity and when you do fall, repent and turn to Christ.
