Human limbs and faculties are designed as tools to serve the Creator and improve the world. However, they can easily be twisted into a system of moral and spiritual ruin, creating a dangerous progression from a flawed internal attitude to deadly physical actions.
The primary approach among commentators is that an elevated gaze represents arrogance. A proud person haughtily lifts his eyes, standing in sharp contrast to the humble who keep their gaze lowered [מצודת דוד, אבן עזרא]. This pride is repulsive to God because the arrogant individual loses his grip on reality. He artificially inflates his own importance, looks down on others, and completely forgets his own insignificance in the face of the universe and its Creator [עמנואל הרומי]. On a philosophical level, this arrogance manifests as intellectual defiance against faith [מלבי״ם]. A person might rely too heavily on his own mind to investigate mysteries beyond human understanding, ultimately arriving at false beliefs. Alternatively, he might deny divine providence altogether, claiming that God is simply too elevated to concern Himself with the daily events of the lower world [עמנואל הרומי]. Taking a different approach, this visual flaw can also be understood not as pride, but as gazing at forbidden things, such as looking inappropriately at a married woman [אלשיך].
The next moral failure involves a person who loves to speak lies. Since God represents absolute and unparalleled truth, deceit is the trait furthest removed from His divine nature [עמנואל הרומי]. This falsehood also exists on an intellectual plane, where a person uses his intelligence to mislead others through flawed logic [מלבי״ם] or by teaching corrupt beliefs and opinions [עמנואל הרומי]. When viewed as a chain reaction of sin, lying is the natural consequence of the forbidden gaze. Once a person is caught or accused of looking at something inappropriate, he immediately turns to lies to deny his actions and cover his tracks [אלשיך].
The most severe offense in this destructive sequence is the murder of innocent people. Taking the life of a blameless person is a direct strike against the King of Kings, because the murderer forcibly removes the victim from the world, ending his ability to serve his Creator [עמנואל הרומי]. In a borrowed sense, shedding blood can also refer to severely shaming or humiliating another person in public [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Behaviorally, this marks the tragic end of a downward spiral. It begins with the eye seeing forbidden things, continues with the tongue lying to hide the truth, and finally ends in murder. Driven by jealousy or the desperate fear of being caught, a thief or an adulterer cornered in the act will ultimately kill to protect himself [אלשיך]. On a deeper, allegorical level, the shedding of guiltless blood represents the destruction of the pure human spirit and intellect. When a person enslaves his mind to physical desires and allows foolishness to rule his life, he essentially murders his own intellectual power, destroys his spiritual potential, and brings ultimate ruin upon his own soul [עמנואל הרומי].