Casting Off Sin

In today’s Gospel, we read that Christ said to His followers: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe [in me] to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” He then goes on to say that if your hand, foot, or eye cause you to sin, you should cut it off or pluck it out. Now, we need not take Jesus literally and begin to chop off body parts. He certainly does not want us to harm ourselves. But He does want us to get rid of the source of sin in our lives.

What does that look like today? It could be a toxic friend who leads us away from Christ rather than to Him. It could be social media or a TV show that causes us to forgo our faith or to do something contrary to the commandments. Or it could be spending too much time on our phone and putting this “idol” before God.

Anything that leads us away from God should be cast away. But that takes a lot of moral courage. It takes us having—and sustaining—the ability to ask God for His help, to take His hand, and to allow Him to lead us. This is especially difficult when others make fun of us, when others call us names or rebuke us for our faith, or when things don’t seem to go our way. During these times, we may feel abandoned by those on Earth and by God.

This loneliness can lead to despair. And that despair can pitch us into anger or even resentment, which of course can lead to sinful behavior. And you know what? That’s exactly what the evil one wants. In fact, he revels in those feelings because they create distance between us and God. So as we think about driving out the things that cause us to sin, we must remember that those things include the feelings and the thoughts that pull away from our Lord.

That is why a solid prayer life is so vital. When we feel these dark thoughts creeping in on us, when we feel them about to overtake us, or when we notice things of the outside world replacing things of the spiritual world, that is when we must train ourselves to press the proverbial pause button and find a quiet place to pray, to give ourselves to God, to listen to Him, and to tell Him we trust in Him.

Better yet, go see Him in Adoration. Sit with Him. Ask for the courage and the strength to battle the evil affecting you and to cut from your life the things causing you to sin. This is what Christ asks of us. This is how we can grow closer to Him.

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