Carefully Avoid Stumbling Yourself and Others

Jesus used illustrations to teach the seriousness of being stumbled or of causing others to stumble.

18:6, 7

• A “stumbling block” refers to an action or circumstance that leads a person to follow an improper course, to stumble or fall morally, or to fall into sin

• A person who causes someone to stumble would be better off if he fell into the sea with a millstone hung around his neck

18:8, 9

• Jesus counseled his followers to remove even something as precious as a hand or an eye if it causes them to stumble

• It would be better to give up such a cherished thing and enter into God’s Kingdom than to hold on to it and end up in Gehenna, a symbol of permanent destruction

What in my life could become a stumbling block, and how can I keep from stumbling myself or others?