Note: Jesus has just told us that we need to become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven.6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.REFLECTIONSWritten by Tramanh Nguyen Often people view the Christian life in an individualistic way. When it comes to another person’s journey of faith, they might say, “That’s between them and God.”In one sense, this is true. However, God designed things so that our individual faith is connected to our brothers and sisters in Christ.Today’s passage is intense... but so necessary. We learn two things from Jesus here. First, Jesus uses the strongest possible language to emphasise the severity of causing any believer to stumble in their faith and turn away from God. He says that someone who does that would be better off dying a terrible death (vs. 6)! Sometimes we just don’t take seriously the way our actions will affect others – if we set a bad example in speech, character or purity, or if we misuse our freedom in Christ and so entice others into sin.So the first thing we learn is that being a Christian involves guarding each other from sin and unbelief.The second thing that Jesus teaches us is to guard ourselves from sin and unbelief. Jesus again uses strong language to say: “Do everything you possibly can, take every measure necessary, to avoid things that will entice you away from God!”Of course, when Jesus talks about cutting off limbs, this is not literally what he expects us to do. But that’s not because it’s too extreme – it’s because that won’t solve our sin anyway! Back in Matthew 15:19, Jesus said that evil actions come from the heart, not the hand or foot or eye. So we do need to take sin seriously – to make radical changes to kill the sin in our lives and avoid the temptations we know we are vulnerable to. But at the same time, everything depends on God transforming our hearts through the gospel.How are you doing taking sin as seriously as Jesus does? Are we doing all we can, at all costs, to avoid and kill the temptations in our life that might lead us away from God? What changes do you need to make to guard yourself from sin, and also to protect your brothers and sisters in Christ from being led astray? These things have eternal impact – salvation is at stake. So let’s come humbly to God and ask him to change our hearts and help us to take the radical practical steps we need.ABOUT THE AUTHORTramanh is a member of our Fairfield Evening congregation.