Sins that separate you from God (mortal sins) are serious. that’s why they’re called “mortal”. They kill your relationship with God.
Sin is not contingent on whether or not people can see us doing it. We are good people not because we want to convince others that we are good, but because we want to be God because God loves us and gives us life, with the promise of eternal life when we obey His commands.
You would not care what people thought of you if you realized how seldom the do.
One night stands, unprotected sex with anyone are both grave sins. One destroys the dignity of the other person as well as oneself with sexual sin. Sex is properly ordered for two married people. it is an expression of their love and is open to life. You probably know this, but you think “what’s the harm?” It’s a grave matter because you put your soul, and the soul of the other person in a state of peril. What if you were to die with that mortal sin on your soul? Disaster. For eternity. Eternity is a long time, friend.
Fighting, drunkenness…are you kidding? How is expressing hatred not a huge deal? Drunkenness only makes those other sins worse, because you lose the ability to think straight and STOP doing the bad behaviors.
Not going to Church is to deny that you love God enough to worship Him, pray with your church family, receive Him in Eucharist and give thanks fro the blessings He has already given you. Pretty arrogant. If you had kids and they thought nothing of disrespecting you and ignoring you when you invite them to your table, you’d be hurt and disappointed.
Not remaining in a state of grace so that you can go to Mass and receive Eucharist hurts yourself. It’s not about showing and making an appearance for appearance sake.
God knows who is missing.
Resentment. That’s the same as harboring hatred, envy, all of those things that put your soul in a state of turmoil. Just because you think that people don’t know what it is in your heart doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t. These things poison your spirit. It begins to show in a person’s attitude, even facial expressions. But the biggest harm is to YOU.
To your relationship with God.
Sin puts a wedge between you and happiness. It limits your access to perfect love.
It clouds your responses when others need love.
Maybe pick up the catechism and read the sections pertaining to the definition of sin, and why this hurts the Lord and damages your soul. Not all wounds are visible. But they hurt even worse than physical ones.
This is probably one of the best times to think about it. We’re coming up on Holy Week.
Read about the Lord’s passion, and the wounds He suffered for you. Perhaps watch the Passion of the Christ movie. Sit in church and reflect on that crucifix over the altar. Think about what Jesus went through to save all of us and bring us back.
Powerful stuff. Humbling at minimum. Achingly beautiful. Love. He gives it to us.
We must give it back to Him. They way to do this, is to avoid serious sin. We’re all human. Venial (small sins happen, and we repent, we try harder. But we MUST actively avoid all mortal sin. Our eternal lives are dependent on this. It’s one piece of the mission we all have, It affects the vocation that He has given you, whatever that may be.
Peace.
