Home Gallery Articles News

The Devout Catholic

SIN | ARTICLES

sin and temptation

EDITORIAL

What connects me, you, the saints, the president, the pope, a rockstar, a dictator? We are all sinners. Everybody commits the unfortunate renunciation of their eternal reward in favor of their ever-deteriorating corpses at least seven times a day. To remedy against this, we must remind ourselves why we should not sin, why we sin, and what sin really is.

We should not sin because He Who has done the most for us -- He Who has died for us, He Who created us, He who is always with us, He who allows us to nourish ourselves with His Precious Body and Blood, -- tells us not to and is offended by sin. Our Redeemer is so good that He allows our sins to hurt Him! Let us then not participate in His crucifixion! Often, we do not love God enough, if at all. Why do we not love God? Nobody has done more for us, yet we do not love Him. We may think, "I want to love God," or, "I love God." This is not true: we merely have to compare our imaginary love to that love with which we love our dear ones, compare our imaginary want to the wants we have in life. True love constantly seeks its object, want seeks fulfillment. We do not constantly think about God, nor do we constantly want to love God. When we want something, we want it NOW. Yet, do we have that same want for love of Christ? When we love someone, we thirst to be with him/her, to love and be loved. Yet, do we have that same love for Christ? No, sadly, we do not. Let us then pray to Our Blessed Mother, for she so loved CHrist that the mere thought of His Suffering sufficed to pang her Holy Heart, that she may grant us that same love. Often, obstacles to our loving God are in the form of self-love. We love ourselves more than we love God, do not try to deny it. We must remedy against this by constantly reminding ourselves of the wretched sinners we are, and how great a Redeemer we have, that He is so Good as to forgive and love us who love Him not, He forgives us who remember Him not.

We sin because we fall into temptation and take on that alien want unto ourselves. No human, created in the Image and Likeness of God truly desires what is contrary to His Will. No, anything that is contrary to His Will is an alien substance in us, and must be rooted out with vigour. When we are tempted, the devil presents an act contrary to God's Will to us, and, more often than not, it becomes our 'desire,' our 'want.' How can we be so easily blinded, that we allow a demon, an enemy of Our God , to implant in us a desire that is so clearly against the Will of God? How can we let ourselves be fooled into thinking of that alien substance as our own desire? Surely, we then are more blinded than a blind man when we sin, for in it, we take on the desires of the devil as our own. The devil has his tricks, if we resist his wants, he might whisper into our ears, "This shall be your last sin, then you shall sin no more." The devil is the father of lies, he tells us what we want to hear. Do not trust the devil's word! Those addicted to sin often think of "sinning for the last time," after which they will stop. No! They will keep sinning "for the last time" until their death, after which they will go to hell! It has to stop now. Tomorrow will be too late.

Though sin hides under the most pleasing masks, it is the ugliest of creatures, for it seperates us from our Loving God and induces us into discord with Him. At best, the fruit of sin is incomparable with the endless sea of riches we will receive in Heaven, if we get there. Let us not be fooled into giving our birthright away, right before the moment of our inheritance! For what is now compared with eternity, a year compared with forever? Sin is an alien desire totally unacceptable to a hear of heaven. Yes, we are heirs of heaven, yet we deny its King; we are the heirs who deny their birthright each and every day; blessed is the God Who forgives us!

When we feel ourselves tempted, let us call on the Names of God, His Blessed Mother, the Saints, and the Angels. The devil is like a murderer in prison, he can not hurt you unless you chain yourself right beside him: when you chain youself beside him, it is for eternity. The devil can do nothing contrary to your will, he can not force you do to anything; when you sin, it is because you have done so with your own free will. Tempt you the devil may, but sin you do alone.



Deo Gratias