Many of us desire to be holy, but we fall in sin; There is a solution.
The disciple approached the Master with grief and said, ‘I fell again… I committed the same sin. The devil is after me… I can’t succeed.’ Master smiled and gently asked, ‘were you able to keep up all the other decisions, except that sin… I mean… daily prayer, Bible reading, spiritual reading…etc.’ Disciple was in a dilemma. He said, ‘No master, after this sin, I was fed up and I stopped all the others.’
‘No my child’, said the Master, ‘it is the other way round. Since you gradually stopped all the other, you fell into that particular sin again.’
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Many of us confess every now and then, the same sins committed in our life. We give many reasons for it; devils force, our weakness in that area, uncontrollable temptations, the dual law within… etc. Many of us aspire to be holy and loving to others, but we do not reach up to the standard that is in our mind. Is there a solution for it?
Put aside our sins, are we able to put into action all the decisions we make in our life? Most say no. Then, the problem is our inability to bring into reality what we think we should. So, the cure for our problem lies in maintaining this ability. We should be more capable to incarnate our good decisions. Once we acquire this ability in our life, it is easy to avoid sin.
Spiritual fathers would suggest mortifications in this training. If we take a decision to avoid a delicious food, we should do it. A decision not to watch television for some day must be accomplished. Decision to avoid a look, small favor, kind help… everything must be done as we take the decision. They are virtues, yet again, they are also training our mind to keep up the decisions we take. Though it is grace, firm decision too has something to do with holiness of life.
Unless and until we train ourselves in the field of virtues, we cannot avoid sin. There is some form of grace called ‘sanctifying grace’ in our life. Its meaning is strictly connected with holiness in day to day life. Spiritually, it makes one perfect in front of God. Openness to sanctifying grace will make us capable of doing every possible virtue in our life, at each and every moment.
Unless and until we do all the possible good works and virtuous acts in our life, we are under the cloud of sin. Sanctifying grace increases when one person takes up mortifications one after another. It will help us not only to avoid sin but also to be strong in the decisions we take in our life. Those who grow in this grace will fulfill many good endeavors in life.
– – – written by Jinto Mathew
Greetings Brother Georgy!
I’m a little confused with part of your post. You say, “Unless and until we do all the possible good works and virtuous acts in our life, we are under the cloud of sin.”
Does this mean there is a finite amount of good acts in life we can accomplish and that once we’ve reached that many we are no longer under a cloud of sin?
I feel like we’re just always under a cloud of sin because of what Eve did.
Anyway, great post. As for avoiding sin, I like to wear elastics on my wrist and when I’m tempted by sin (or chocolate cake! LOL) I snap the elastics hard enough to remind myself that Jesus is always watching.
Bless you!
Hello Georgy,
I am a lapsed catholic and a frequent and enthusiastic masturbator. I do believe in Jesus still and I know that He is always watching. I used to find it creepy since I know that He understands me and knows that we all have needs. Now when I do it, I make sure that I really put on a good show for Him. Do you think He will judge me or will he understand? I pray he will understand.
Dear friend,
I try not to be harsh…but to tell you in a kind and sencere manner.., we all have needs that is true, however the bible is clear, that certain pleasures are to be done between a married couple only…there is no other alternative..so yes it is a mortal sin of lust…i pray for you will be sorry and ask God to fill you with the holy spirit to avoid this sin and maybe you will find a woman to love, marry her and have family…paul says in Bible that for the person that is tempted for sex, is to find a good spouse to marry.
Hope i helped,
A friend surfing this page.