Can Someone Explain This Sin to Me?

[Christbearer03]

Good day all. Recently, I have been thinking about the sin of giving greater love to things other than God. Could someone explain to me really what this means and some possible examples or hypothetical situations?

Sometimes I have a thought about doing something based on my spiritual life, and then I feel like I should go and do whatever that thought was. If not, I feel like I could be sinning by giving greater love to things other than God by not doing whatever thought of doing something good came into my mind. Am I correctly understanding this or not?

Thanks all!

 

[JurisPrudens]

Good day all. Recently, I have been thinking about the sin of giving greater love to things other than God. Could someone explain to me really what this means and some possible examples or hypothetical situations?

Sometimes I have a thought about doing something based on my spiritual life, and then I feel like I should go and do whatever that thought was. If not, I feel like I could be sinning by giving greater love to things other than God by not doing whatever thought of doing something good came into my mind. Am I correctly understanding this or not?

Thanks all!

That sin is to make “false Gods” for Yourself. Nothing, except for God, may be the most important thing of Your life. Neither Your wife, nor children, nor a pet or smth.

 

[porthos11]

Good day all. Recently, I have been thinking about the sin of giving greater love to things other than God. Could someone explain to me really what this means and some possible examples or hypothetical situations?

Sometimes I have a thought about doing something based on my spiritual life, and then I feel like I should go and do whatever that thought was. If not, I feel like I could be sinning by giving greater love to things other than God by not doing whatever thought of doing something good came into my mind. Am I correctly understanding this or not?

Thanks all!

Because of your severe scrupulosity, do not ask about anything involving sin here. Limit questions like these to your confessor or spiritual director, for your own good.

 

[Antegin]

Porthos11, play nice

Christbearer3, you do ask a good question and you should feel free to write whatever within the limits placed by moderators. What Porthos11 is correctly saying is that your response, the way you give weight to your actions, may or may not be a good way to identify sin and get a good corrective action going.

Very few of us in these forums are priests and the few I know adamantly refuse to give spiritual direction in a thread. It is in your best interest to get a good confessor, use the same confessor for a long period so that he gets to know you and can help you with your scruples.

 

[Arizona_Fat_Gir]

Let me see if I can help in some way. God comes first. That would include pleasing your spouse. Suppose you married someone who did not want to go to church. Let’s say that spouse did not want you to go either. If you choose to do it your spouse’s way, you are giving in to sin. You are putting the husband or wife ahead of God.

When it comes to something minor, it may be not a sin at all. Let’s say you felt like a shopping trip on Thursday afternoon. It is not a holy day of obligation, but they are having Mass down the block at the local church. You decide you will go shopping and go to Mass some other time. I don’t think that is a sin since it is not a holy day. You can go some other time, God willing.

 

[revert_jen]

Sometimes I have a thought about doing something based on my spiritual life, and then I feel like I should go and do whatever that thought was. If not, I feel like I could be sinning by giving greater love to things other than God by not doing whatever thought of doing something good came into my mind. Am I correctly understanding this or not?

Since sin involves intention, and your hypothetical situation is very vague, I can’t say.

What I can say is that all actions in everyday life should be weighed against the cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. This means that just because you have a whim of something doesn’t mean it is, for example, prudent to do it.

–Jen