Matthew 5:27-30
Adultery
27"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, 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. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Jesus talks about adultery then tells about when sin starts and our self control...Jesus talks about when one has lust in the heart for one's neighbor, that is sinful...He, you might say, is using lust and coveting synonymously...When one has lustful feelings about one's neighbor, this is a sin...The sin in one's mind, before the action is a sin...Jesus is telling us the very idea is sinful, as well as the act...The Tenth Commandment is thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife...When one looks at another's neighbor with lust, they are coveting and Jesus tells us that is already adultery in their heart...
Jesus tells us to gouge out our eye or cut off a right hand, or lose a boy part to prevent sin...It starts in the mind...The mind has this idea...The idea is nourished by the stimuli of lust...Lust grows and the action of sin has happened...Jesus is telling us that all sin starts in our minds...Everyone throughout their lives have temptations...Self control is important...If we don't control our minds then sin can quickly follow...We must focus on the Father and Son when temptation starts, and it starts in the mind, with the idea...We must be on guard for the evil one and his temptations...It is good to recognize when there is this desire and coveting in the heart, so the focus can begin on the Father and Son...
Cutting off a body part does not get rid of one's lust...Persistent sin and recurring sin keeps us separated from God...If our minds are under control then we control our other body parts...The actual cutting off of an eye or something else was not the root of the meaning... Jesus wants us to be in control of these feelings...The more one focuses on a wrongful desire, the more likely it is to happen...Jesus wants us to focus on the Father and if we do, we do not want or have time to be focusing on temptations and desires...Man is a function of his what he thinks and feels...
Jesus knows the mind and body...He was their when we were created...He knows the strength of a temptation...But He knows the power of God...The longer we focus on God and the less we focus our minds on temptation, the less a temptation becomes... Coveting and lust hold an enticement to man...Jesus teaches us that transforming one's heart and mind to the right thoughts strengthens our spiritual health as much as exercise strengthens our physical health...