Plucking Out
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. Matthew 5:29
Read Matthew 5:27-32
You and I see many things, including our fellow man, through our eyes. Many stimuli enter our lives through the sense of sight. The Lord Jesus made this abundantly clear by examining the commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery. You can take this command literally by claiming that a person is only guilty of transgressing it when they have an intimate relationship with a person other than their spouse.
But the Lord Jesus reveals what God actually meant by this commandment. Whenever you see a woman and desire her, you have committed adultery in your heart. An adulterous thought is already sinful.
What stimuli enter your eyes, bringing sinful thoughts to your mind? Are images that you saw while watching a movie or looking at a website causing your heart to contemplate and even lust after sin? If this is true, you must immediately stop listening to and viewing these things. You must shield yourself from such stimuli by getting a filter on your computer. But the best filter you can have is the Lord dwelling in your heart with His Holy Spirit. Through His power, you learn to hate sin and to avoid it. The Holy Spirit can teach you to be very selective in what you allow yourself to see so that you would not grieve Him.
Do not fail to speak with your friends about these issues and consider what the Lord requires from you. Pray unceasingly for Him to sanctify your eyes and your heart through His Spirit.
Thought: Do you realize that sinful desires often arise through images you have seen?
Psalter 325: 3,4 (based on Psalm 119) Turn Thou my eyes from vanity, And cause me in Thy ways to tread; O let Thy servant prove Thy word And thus to godly fear be led. Turn Thou away reproach and fear; Thy righteous judgments I confess; To know Thy precepts I desire, Revive me in Thy righteousness.