"If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell" —Matthew 5:30
Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that “if your right hand causes you to sin” in your walk with Him, then it is better to “cut it off.” There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then “cut it off.” The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind.
When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, “What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!”
There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God’s sight than to appear lovely to man’s eyes but lame to God’s. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don’t use your restrictions to criticize someone else.
The Christian life is a maimed life initially, but in Matthew 5:48 Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life— “You shall be, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” -Chambers
When God said to cut off your right hand, He didn't have to tell us how painful it would be, it's a given. Cutting off your own hand is going to HURT! But better to endure the pain of losing a limb than to struggle with sin and reap the fruit of that sin. But what if the sin isn't yours? What if it's someone else's in your life? Cut them off. It's going to HURT, you will cry and your heart may break, but God will honor your decision to live holy in His sight by stepping away from the sin. That being said, don't just write off people who screw up, we're all human and we all mess up. But unrepented, intentional sin needs to be dealt with. If you have confronted them by yourself, and then again with a mediator, and then again with your leadership and still there is no change, cut him off.... It's going to HURT. Believe me. It hurts. But God blesses and He has mercy on your pain and loves you through it. Even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances I have ever endured in my life, God is good, God is love, God is my Rock. I'm doing this for Him, under His direction, and for His people. My human heart may be breaking, but God is faithful to restore it! Will I cry? Already am. Will I hurt more? Yes. Will I need a time of healing? Most definitely. Is God ever-faithful to me? Without doubt! Will I obey Him? Without question.
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