Cut It Out

12-7-2009
Cut It Out

Matthew 18:1-9 says the following:
“1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 6But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
7"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! 8If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9And 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 to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”

When we first read the verses 7-9 it can be a bit dramatic. The point we should take from this illustration is to eliminate the things in our lives that cause us to sin. If we have bad habits, we need to replace them with good habits. What we surround ourselves with can lead to our downfall or our elevation to new heights.

Chapter 18 correlates the importance of cutting out sin in our lives with that of a child. For those of us that have an opportunity to make a positive impact in a child’s life, we need to remember what we do and say will ultimately influence whey they do and say. We must always be a positive example in a kid’s life. Not only should we be a positive example in a child’s life, but God calls us to be child like with our very being. Notice he doesn’t say we should be childish!
I have the fortunate opportunity to work with kids on a daily basis, and it’s amazing how kids’ act and speak like their parents. Unfortunately, this can be a good and a bad thing! When kids see their dad’s staring at other women, the kid learns from an early age to stare, and when parent’s use bad language, it’s no wonder their kids do as well. On the other hand, when parents involve their kids in acts of service, it makes sense that the kids grow up with a servant heart. Families that teach their children to pray, have kids that will teach their children to pray. Bottom line is we all have a much bigger impact in people’s lives than we realize, thus it’s our job to be the example Christ has called us to be. A big part of us being the example for others means we must cut things out of our lives that cause us to sin. This won’t be easy, but Christ boldly proclaims its importance. Let’s revert back to childlike ways when we had a pure innocence about us, and live for others. If there’s something keeping you from living a pure and innocent life, CUT IT OUT!

Application:
1. Read Matthew 18:1-9
2. Be the example for others!