Seriousness of controlling our eyes
(Mat 5:29 NIV) If 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.
Jesus emphasized that we can be drawn into sin by our eyes. And the sins of the eyes can be so serious that we need to take drastic actions. He even used a hyperbole of gouging our eyes out to avoid sin.
Avoiding lustful glances
(Mat 5:28 NIV) But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
(2 Pet 2:14 NIV) With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed–an accursed brood!
The world will tell you that if you do not physically get close to someone outside marriage, that is not adultery. But Jesus’ standard is so much higher. Because it is God’s standard.
Jesus taught that adultery begins not with the act, but with the eyes and in our minds. We need to constantly keep ourselves on guard that we do not commit adultery by being careful of what we see. Do we allow ourselves to look at or read materials that will provoke lustful thoughts? Do we allow ourselves to stare at someone of the opposite sex because we find that person physically attractive?
Avoiding materialistic glances
(1 John 2:16 NIV) For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world.
The lust of the eyes here refer to seeing something and lusting (or earnestly desiring) for it. This tendency started way back to the first human beings. Eve saw the fruit and wanted to have it.
(Gen 3:6 NIV) When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Do we look at the material things of the world with looks of lust? Do we need to get hold of everything we set our eyes upon?
Do not look down at others
(Oba 1:12-13 NIV) You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble. {13} You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor look down on them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster.
(Mat 18:10 NIV) “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
We can sin with the eyes when we look down at others who are less fortunate than us.
Another way we can look down at others is with spiritual pride. We have the tendency to judge peoples of other religion. Not only that, we judge fellow brothers when we think we are more spiritual than them.
(Rom 14:3 NIV) The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.
(Rom 14:10 NIV) You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
Do not look at others with envy
(Psa 73:3 NIV) For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
We are not to look at others with envy. The apostle Paul teaches that we should be content with what we have.
(Phil 4:12 NIV) I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
In particular, we should not look in envy at people who appear to be more successful than we are through their wicked ways.
(Psa 37:1-5 NIV) Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; {2} for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. {3} Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. {4} Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. {5} Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
Be careful what we look at
(Mat 6:22-23 NIV) “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. {23} But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
We may think that what we look at is harmless. History proved that it is not so. The Bible records for us the story of a great king, David, who fell into the sin of adultery and even murder because his eyes saw the wrong things.
(2 Sam 11:2 NIV) One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,
(2 Sam 11:4 NIV) Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home.
Let’s be careful what we look at. Are there some TV programs that will cause us to have lustful thoughts? Perhaps some magazines or articles?
Seeing through the eyes of God
(1 Sam 16:7 NIV) But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
(Luke 16:15 NIV) He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.
God looks at things differently from us. As we draw near to God and as we read His Word, we will begin to see more and more through His eyes.
Seeing with eyes of faith
(Heb 11:1 NIV) Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
(John 20:29 NIV) Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
There are two ways to see things – with our natural eyes or with eyes of faith. When we see with our natural eyes, we are engrossed with our present situation. But when we see through eyes of faith, we are sure that God will bring to pass things that we cannot see in our present situation.