When Jesus Said ‘Cut It Off’—and What He Really Meant

"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away… if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away." (Mt 5:29–30)

For years I thought Jesus was expressing a hyperbole—a shocking metaphor to tell us to take sin seriously. Even to practice radical amputation: cut off whatever in your life is causing you to stumble.

While it’s true we should take sin seriously, it's missing the deeper message.

As a clinical psychologist, I've seen how this passage often affects people. They judge themselves harshly, drowning in shame, wondering if they're really taking sin seriously enough. The internal voice whispers, "If you truly loved God, wouldn't you go this far?"

But watch what happens if we follow this logic: A lustful man sins with his hands, so he cuts them off. Still sins with his eyes—gouges them out. Sins with his tongue—cuts that out too. On and on until he's just a limbless, senseless torso on a bed, and yet he can still lust, hate, envy, and rage within.