Stop Treating Sin As A Pet

May 17, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Sin on a Leash

Jesus spoke bluntly about sin’s grip. He said if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. First-century listeners knew hands represented daily work, relationships, and habits. His shocking metaphor reveals sin’s deadly cost—better to lose what feels essential than keep playing with destruction. [24:29]

The Lord isn’t demanding self-mutilation. He’s exposing how we coddle compromises, calling them harmless. Like a pet lion cub that grows into a killer, tolerated sin gains strength. Jesus died to break its power, not become its zookeeper.

What “hand” have you been feeding? A relationship? A secret habit? A prideful attitude? Name the thing you’ve leashed but still stroke. Where does Jesus want you to pick up the shears?

“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.”
(Matthew 18:8, NIV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to expose one compromise you’ve normalized. Beg for courage to sever it.

Challenge: Write down three areas where you’ve said “It’s not that bad.” Circle the one God highlights.

Day 2: Millstone Mercy

Jesus reserved His fiercest warning for those who trip up others: “Better a millstone necklace than harm one of these little ones.” The disciples froze. They’d just argued about who was greatest. Now Christ rebuked their pride—the very attitude that destroys communities. [16:07]

God protects His children fiercely. When we dismiss how our choices affect others—a careless word, a bad example, a silent complicity—we invite His “woe.” Mercy isn’t softness; it’s refusing to be a stumbling block.

Who watches your life? A coworker? A younger believer? Your kids? What habit or attitude could send them sprawling?

“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.”
(Matthew 18:6, NIV)

Prayer: Confess areas where your influence has weakened others. Plead for discernment.

Challenge: Text one person you’ve influenced poorly. Acknowledge it without excuses.

Day 3: Childlike Unclenching

Jesus called a child to the center. “Become like this,” He said. The disciples scowled. Children had no status—dependent, unimpressive, trusting. Christ flipped their ladder-climbing: true greatness comes through surrendered humility. [13:00]

God’s kingdom runs on radical reliance. Striving stops here. Arms drop. We stop justifying our worth and simply receive. The child didn’t earn a spot; Jesus gave it.

Where are you performing instead of resting? What achievements or spiritual badges have you clutched like tickets to His approval?

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
(Matthew 18:3-4, NIV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for gifts you didn’t earn. Release your resume of “goodness.”

Challenge: Kneel physically today—while praying, doing chores, or working—to practice dependence.

Day 4: Surgery in Community

Jesus prescribed radical intervention for persistent sin: confront privately, then bring witnesses, then tell the church. First-century Jews avoided conflict. But Christ prioritized purity over politeness—not to shame, but to save. [31:08]

Accountability isn’t cruelty. Like surgeons removing cancer, believers must address sin before it metastasizes. Silence isn’t love; it’s complicity.

Who has permission to question your blind spots? When have you avoided a hard conversation out of fear?

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.”
(Matthew 18:15, NIV)

Prayer: Beg God for someone willing to wound you kindly.

Challenge: Ask one trusted believer to check in weekly about your “pet sin.”

Day 5: The Shepherd’s If

Jesus described a shepherd leaving 99 sheep to find one. But He added a haunting phrase: “If he finds it.” The sheep’s willingness to be found matters. Keep wandering, and even the Shepherd’s pursuit hits a wall—not His limit, but ours. [29:49]

God never stops chasing, but we can stop hearing. Each rebellion calluses our hearts. What sin have you romanticized so long you’ve gone deaf to His voice?

“And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.”
(Matthew 18:13, NIV)

Prayer: Cry out: “Jesus, don’t let me get used to running.”

Challenge: Delete one app/account that feeds your compromise. Do it now.

Sermon Summary

Jesus names the problem straight: sin is not a pet to be fed and stroked. The enemy gets no teeth unless sin is left out of the cage. The text insists that every fracture the world loves to normalize flows from sin’s rot, yet the enemy only devours where permission is given. Christ exposes this by leaving his throne, dying to break sin’s power, and calling his people to stop living halfway.

Matthew 18 sets the tone by putting a child in the middle. The child’s lowly heart names the doorway into the kingdom. In God’s economy, the way up is down. Whoever receives the low place gets lifted. Then the “woe” lands like a siren. Woe to anyone through whom stumbling comes. Better a millstone and the deep sea than being the hand that nudges a believer toward the ditch. The warning runs wide. Woe to the world and to any system that manufactures stumbling, and woe to the person who carries it along. The church is meant to look different, not polished on Sunday and loose with sin on Monday.

The backstory matters. Pride turned Lucifer into the devil, and that same pride recruits company. The whispers are ordinary and deadly: it’s fine to watch that, to nurse that division, to hunt satisfaction outside covenant. Jesus refuses soft edges here. If a hand or foot makes a person stumble, cut it off. If an eye trips the heart, gouge it out. He is not after literal amputation. He is after disciplined severing of daily loves that are treated like can’t-live-without-it essentials. The question is not perfection, but relationship to sin. Clutch it, and it hardens the heart.

The shepherd’s search clarifies the turning point. “If he finds it” is not God’s lack but the sinner’s will. Habitual petting of sin can calcify a heart until it does not want to be found. So the King gives the house rules that keep rot out of the fellowship. Go privately to the brother who sins. If he will not listen, take witnesses. If he hardens still, tell it to the church. If he refuses the church, treat him as an unbeliever. This is not cruelty. It is clarity that protects the flock and honors the keys of binding and loosing. The call lands simple and costly: stop coddling what Christ died to kill, ask for the Spirit’s power, and cut it off before it cuts the soul off from God.

Key Takeaways

1. Stop treating sin like a pet Sin is not a coping mechanism, a comfort, or a little side habit. It is a door the soul opens that hands the enemy the very authority Christ died to reclaim. Conviction is mercy here because it teaches a believer how to close that door and keep it closed. [03:34]
2. Childlike humility opens the kingdom Jesus pulls a kid into the center to show what greatness looks like: trust, lowliness, and quick repentance. Status chasing keeps the heart stiff; childlike hearts receive correction and grace like oxygen. The way up in the kingdom really is down. [13:23]
3. Better a millstone than stumbling others Christ’s double “woe” means causing another believer to fall is dead serious. Liberty without love becomes a trap set for a brother’s conscience. Wisdom asks not only “is this allowed,” but “will this help them walk clean.” [15:46]
4. Cut it off before it cuts you Jesus calls for radical amputation of anything that feeds rebellion, even if it feels essential or daily. He is not after maimed bodies but mastered appetites and re-ordered loves. Discipline now is mercy compared to the eternal cost of coddled sin. [24:29]
5. Confront in love to guard holiness Private, patient, accountable confrontation is not meddling; it is family care that keeps the house free from rot. Refusal to listen finally names itself, and the church responds with clear boundaries and real hope for restoration. Christ honors this with heaven’s backing. [31:08]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:40] - It’s not a pet
[02:56] - Deal with demons, check your pets
[03:34] - Sin opens the door to the enemy
[06:05] - Sin behind every broken thing
[07:58] - Roaring lion, no teeth without consent
[12:38] - A child in the middle
[14:11] - Double woe to tempters
[15:46] - Millstone and sober conversations
[18:25] - Woe to the world’s traps
[20:53] - Lucifer’s pride and the whispers
[24:29] - Cut it off, not coddle it
[29:00] - If he finds it and hard hearts
[30:16] - Church discipline that heals and guards
[34:19] - Prayer to repent and receive power

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Matthew 18:1-20 (ESV)
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Observation questions

In Matthew 18:3, Jesus says we must “become like children” to enter the kingdom of heaven. What specific qualities of a child does He highlight in this passage?
What two consequences does Jesus warn about for those who cause others to stumble? (Matthew 18:6-7) [15:46]
According to Matthew 18:15-17, what are the four steps Jesus gives for addressing sin within the church community?

Interpretation questions

Why do you think Jesus uses the imagery of cutting off a hand or gouging out an eye to describe dealing with sin (Matthew 18:8-9)? How does this contrast with treating sin like a “pet”? [24:29]
Jesus says, “If he finds it” in the parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18:13). What does this imply about human responsibility in repentance versus God’s pursuit of us? [29:00]
How does the process of confronting sin in Matthew 18:15-17 balance both love for holiness and care for the person caught in sin? [31:08]

Application questions

What is one area of your life where you’ve been “feeding” a sin like a harmless pet instead of cutting it off? What practical step could you take this week to sever its influence? [03:34]
How might your daily choices (social media, conversations, entertainment) unintentionally “nudge someone toward the ditch” of sin? What could you adjust to prioritize others’ spiritual safety? [15:46]
When have you avoided addressing sin in a relationship because it felt uncomfortable? How could you courageously pursue reconciliation using Matthew 18:15 as a guide?
Jesus calls for radical humility. Where are you currently chasing status, recognition, or control instead of embracing childlike dependence on God? What would repentance look like here? [13:23]
The sermon warns that “liberty without love becomes a trap.” Is there a personal freedom you enjoy that might weaken a fellow believer’s conscience? How can you exercise wisdom without legalism?

Sermon Clips

43s

#ProtectTheLittleOnes

“If anyone causes one of these little ones, those who believe in me to stumble listen. This is Jesus. This is not John Neal. It is better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and drowned in the depths of the sea. What is he saying? He's literally letting us know that it would be better for you and I to be dead than to be helping another brother or sister fall into sin. That's how serious the sin issue is.”

53s

#RepentanceOverPerf

“I'm a say something that didn't say first service. I'd rather be talking to an atheist right now than someone who is deceived by the power of the enemy thinking that they're good with God when they live however they wanna live. And I would argue that some of us in the room today are deceived. Jesus deals aggressively with this by giving his life, sacrificing his life. And I'm gonna show you just here in a second that God's not looking for perfection. It's our relationship with the sin that he's concerned about.”

36s

#ChooseToBeFound

“He will never stop looking searching for you. He will never stop giving you the opportunity to come home. But look at this next verse. I've never caught it the way I did this week. Verse 13, and if he finds it. I don't think God has a problem finding anything. The if comes down to whether or not we wanna be found. And the sin that we keep messing with, if we don't cut it off, listen to me, friends, there will come a day. Well, when is that day? I don't know. Keep messing with it and you'll find out.”

34s

#CheckYourHeart

“I'm not asking you to walk out of here with condemnation if you're wrestling with God and he's working on your life and trying to overcome some addiction or anger. No. No. No. No. Listen. What I'm telling you and I to check our hearts on is if we feel like we can't live without it, that we won't let it go because we're so in love with it. That, my friend, is a problem, and it's a heart problem.”

45s

#SinGivesSatanPower

“Betrayal, sin issue. Sickness, sin issue. Now I'm not telling you, and I never will tell you, it's not gospel at all that Jesus makes you sick because you're sinning. I'm saying there would never be sickness in this world if it wasn't for sin. Divorce, sin issue. Division in the church, sin issue. Addiction, sin issue. It has impacted our lives and our loved ones more than we would want to admit. But it has no power over us unless we give it to the enemy.”

36s

#WoeToStumblers

“Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble. And pay attention to this next part, such things must come. In other words, we have no control over the junk that this world tries to force down our throat. But even God is saying, woah. To any man made organization, government, whatever it may be that puts things in place that causes people to stumble.”

28s

#ResolveOneOnOne

“Between the two of you, listen, if I've hurt you, come tell me. Now there's some things you just need to get over and I just need to get over. We don't need to go tell I mean, good God, we'd I'd be going to people every day if that was the case, and you would too. But those people who've hurt you, like, don't tell them. Give them the opportunity. Because look what scripture says, if they listen to you, you've won them over.”

33s

#TwoOrThreeWitnesses

“But if they will not listen, take one or two others along so that every matter may be established by testimony of two or three witnesses. In other words, there are times where it's good to take someone you trust with you to hold that conversation accountable for you and for others. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church. This is how we keep the power of sin out of our church. This is it. It is these instructions that Jesus has clearly given us.”

Ask a question about this sermon

thelc.church This sermon · AI assistant

What does it mean to treat sin as a pet?

How should the church confront a sinning brother?

Why does Jesus use cutting off hand and eye?

Stop Treating Sin As A Pet

Devotional

Day 1: Sin on a Leash

Day 2: Millstone Mercy

Day 3: Childlike Unclenching

Day 4: Surgery in Community

Day 5: The Shepherd’s If

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Stop Treating Sin As A Pet

Share