Jesus on Adultery and Masturbation: Matthew 5:27-30

You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'. But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell. -Matthew 5:27-30

People that "desire to possess" those that are already committed to a relationship are immoral, for obvious reasons. These verses here are not obeyed that well by Christians. Jesus isn't speaking in metaphor here, yet I see so many Christians with two eyes and hands. This seems to be a problem for those that claim to follow the word of Jesus.

When Jesus refers to the 'right hand', he is obviously referring to wanking. In my opinion, if someone wants to shoot out a few knuckle babies during their spare time, more power to them. However, for those Christians out there, that claim to follow the word of Jesus....that's a different story.

Anyways, moving on....

Committing 'adultery of the heart' should be frowned upon more in our society (it would lead to less cheating, thus less divorce). If married people would stop looking at others with lust, they would be happier with the person they are with. I think Jesus takes it a bit far with the eye gouging, but sometimes this sort of language is needed to persuade the mentally weak/stupid. Jesus (or those that wrote of him) were trying to form moral teachings with 'the ends justify the means' mentality; were they right in doing so? Depends on what your values are in life, and how you desire a society to behave.