Living for others...

Matthew 18:6-9 “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. 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! 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. 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. Having rebuked the disciples for their desire for status instead of serving others, Jesus gets to the core: we live in a world swimming in sin, and we need to live in such a way that we do not help pull others down into the ocean. Our lives need to be lived so much in caring, loving and serving others, that we would see harm come before ourselves before we would want them to be drawn away from Christ. It's not just how our sin affects us, but the influence we have on others.