What does the Bible say about Cutting?

Posted on December 31, 2014 by .....

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT CUTTING? (Leviticus 19:28 – Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. & Deuteronomy 14:1a,2 – Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves….For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.) Cutting can be a very self destructive behavior. Cutting is a serious matter that needs to be looked at in light of God’s word. If you are affected by this or know someone that is there is hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. You may say that only if I could find a friend that could understand this and help me with this. Jesus is your friend. He is a friend that will stick closer than a brother. You can talk to Him about it any time day or night and He will always listen to you. He will always be available. (John 15:5 – Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.)
For those going through this, don’t feel you need to be punished, or you need to cut to release some feelings, the Truth is – Jesus allowed Himself to be beaten, mocked and nailed to a cross to die, he paid the price for any wrongs. He bled (so that you don’t have to) and gave you grace, love and forgiveness (I Peter 2:24 – Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.) You may feel God has abandoned you, but He has promised “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5. You may feel things won’t get better, that you “need” to do this to get through the situation, but Truth is – God promises us a future and he promises us hope. You might not see it right now or understand how things will work out, but trust in Him, He is working out your problems on your behalf. (Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.) You may think you can’t change this behavior but Truth is – if you are a Christian, God has made you a new creature. It may take time to heal your mind and body of this behavior, but if you give it over to God, He will give you the victory over this sin. He has promised to change you no matter how you feel. (II Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. & John 15:15, Colossians 2:7, Philippians 1:6)
Let’s looks at another Bible passage regarding cutting. The Bible in Mark chapter 5 talks about a man who was possessed by an unclean spirit or we would say a demon. In verse 5 of chapter 5 it says “And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.” Cutting yourself could be an indication or the result of a demonic influence in your life. I am not saying this is true for every case or most cases but I am saying it is something that needs to be considered and prayed about in light of the scripture revealing to us that cutting was a symptom of an unclean spirit in this man’s life. Could you have let some demonic influence into your life? And now that influence is oppressing you and manifesting itself physically with the desire or perceived need to cut oneself? This is a possibility and a very serious one that needs prayer. If this is the case the scripture in the next verse shows us what we need to put in our life to remove this evil influence from us. Mark 5:6-8 says “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.” You see Jesus is the answer my friend. He will help you through this problem of a possible influence of an unclean spirit in your life. Turn to Him quickly. Confess your sins to Him. Seek His help and His healing for your life. You need to examine your life and ask the Lord to reveal to you, if it is the case, how this evil influence has gotten into your life. Maybe it was a so-called friend, music, movies or on-line searches that allowed this influence to come in. Guard yourself from such influences and remove them from your life.
In the end the voice of God is telling you “Do thyself no harm” and the voice of Satan is saying “Do thyself all the harm you can”. We need to resist the temptation of the Devil. The Lord will give you the strength you need to do this. It won’t be easy but in the end it will be the alternative that brings you joy instead of destruction. The Bible lays resisting the Devil out for us in James chapter 4. James 4:7 says “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” First submit to God, submit this desire to cut unto God, give it over to him. Next resist the Devil. Fight the temptation and the perceived need to cut yourself with everything you can, but not by yourself, call on the Lord for help and strength to get you through this. That “everything you can” should include the power of God in your life. Finally after you submit to God, resist the Devil, with the Lord’s help you will see you are getting stronger through the Lord, and the Devil will be growing wearing of tempting you in this area and he will flee from you.