Matthew 5:27-30

Jesus goes after matters of the heart once again. In this case, He addresses the sin of lust and adultery. Notice that it is not only “acted” lust but also “thought” lust that is condemned. Jesus makes it clear that unchecked lust is so serious that drastic, decisive action is required to deal with it. As Jesus says, “So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

Hell is a place to avoid at all costs.

Every good deed and every bad deed begins with a thought. Jesus is imploring us to cut sinful actions off at the source, before they take root and grow. This is why Scripture repeatedly instructs us to guard our hearts, because the direction of our lives flows from what we allow to dwell within them.

We are not to allow our minds to linger on thoughts that are contrary to God’s will. In fact, 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us:

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭5‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

We are called to confront those thoughts immediately, bringing them into submission to Christ rather than letting them roam freely and influence our behavior.

Kenneth Hagin, a well-known preacher who ministered for over seventy years, once said, in reference to this subject, “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair.” Temptation may come, but dwelling on it is a choice.

We must also remember that apart from Christ, we were all headed toward Hell, eternally separated from God. Jesus came on a rescue mission to restore us to a right heart condition before the Lord—clean, forgiven, and made new—something made possible only through His death and resurrection.

True salvation transforms our hearts and minds, and that inner transformation produces outward change in our actions. Like Job, who resolved to make a covenant with his eyes so that he wouldn’t look with lust upon a woman, we too are called to live with intentional boundaries that honor God.

Good advice indeed.