Choosing to Sin

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workingonit

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New member here. I suppose I have a pretty serious problem.

I am a sinner. (Don’t worry, I know we all are pretty much.)
And I will sin again. (Same for everyone I’m sure.)

Though lately I’ve been having a hard time with the Sacrament of Confession. I feel as if I am not really confessing my sins when I know that despite my best efforts, I will commit those same sins again. Am I really sorry for my sins when I know that I will be back at square one, possibly in the very near future. What does it mean to confess the same sins every time? Why bother confessing them if you don’t really mean it?

I think my real problem is this: God has given me free will, and I find myself constantly choosing to sin.

I guess I am always finding myself running up against the teachings of the Catholic faith. It seems like everything I do is a sin according to the Catechism. Am I still Catholic if I keep making choices that don’t coincide with the church teachings?
 
workingonit said:
New member here. I suppose I have a pretty serious problem.

I am a sinner. (Don’t worry, I know we all are pretty much.)
And I will sin again. (Same for everyone I’m sure.)

Though lately I’ve been having a hard time with the Sacrament of Confession. I feel as if I am not really confessing my sins when I know that despite my best efforts, I will commit those same sins again. Am I really sorry for my sins when I know that I will be back at square one, possibly in the very near future. What does it mean to confess the same sins every time? Why bother confessing them if you don’t really mean it?

I think my real problem is this: God has given me free will, and I find myself constantly choosing to sin.

I guess I am always finding myself running up against the teachings of the Catholic faith. It seems like everything I do is a sin according to the Catechism. Am I still Catholic if I keep making choices that don’t coincide with the church teachings?
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The Sacrament of Reconciliation provides graces to the penitent as s/he struggles with the attachment to sin. Most of us have a particular area in our life which causes us to sin. Contrition involves being sorrowful for the sin, as well as the intention to not repeat that sin. Victory over a particular sin might take time. If you find yourself repeating the same sin over and over, examine yourself. Do you really want to stop? If so, and you still keep falling, find a priest who can be a Confessor. The priest will not get tired of hearing the same sin over and over, believe me, but will be anxious to help dissect why that sin is so strong for you. In time, step by step, you can obtain victory over your attachment to sin. God bless you.
 
sheila0405 said:
The Sacrament of Reconciliation provides graces to the penitent as s/he struggles with the attachment to sin. Most of us have a particular area in our life which causes us to sin. Contrition involves being sorrowful for the sin, as well as the intention to not repeat that sin. Victory over a particular sin might take time. If you find yourself repeating the same sin over and over, examine yourself. Do you really want to stop? If so, and you still keep falling, find a priest who can be a Confessor. The priest will not get tired of hearing the same sin over and over, believe me, but will be anxious to help dissect why that sin is so strong for you. In time, step by step, you can obtain victory over your attachment to sin. God bless you.
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words of wisdom…my i add that you workinonit try to examine what are the circumstances that lead up to this sin,ie is there something you can do to help aviod this occasion of sin.what are your thoughts before entering the temptation to this sin,ie are you entertaining ideas of this sin. perhaps you may be focusing too much on avioding this sin, which in turn leads you to think about this sin.habitual sin is hard to shake but with the grace of God anything is possible…where are my manners? welcome to CAF.
 
Sometimes it takes many years to overcome some sins, and it is somewhat depressing when we think that the sins are more overpowering than we are. Just remember than Jesus and God are more powerful than any sin that we can ever commit. They can and will help you overcome any addiction, any bad habit and any weakness.

IF you try to rely on yourself, you are doomed to fail but if you rely on God, you are sure to succeed. Prayer and confession are your weapons to defeat this, do not give up either. Believe me, many folks (most especially guys) have gone through your same struggles.

You probably know what gets you into bad situations that may lead you to sin, so try to avoid those same situations, avoid the tempations, use prayer and rely on God to deliver you. It works, God can and will help you prevail. Never give up on God, He will never give up on you. Get in the habit of saying prayers whenever you feel tempted, focus on Christ’s passion and crucifixtion.

When you think of Jesus suffering for our redemption it’s a whole lot easier to avoid the near occasion for sin.
 
I think as long as you are doing your very best to avoid the near occasion of sin (and I know from personal experience that it can be extremely difficult to do this) then you are doing the right thing.

It gets frustrating to have to confess the same things week after week, and it can be tempting to just give up going to Confession, but this is part of the process of healing - we have to keep going to Confession, and we have to keep confessing these things until they are finally defeated once and for all.
 
“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate … For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do … So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
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Anybody want to name that poor sinner?
 
We are all sinners. No matter how hard we try not too, we always end up choosing to sin. It is our human nature. If you keep committing the same sins, then I think you aren’t really sorry for doing them. You should talk to your priest about your situation.
 
Piage3 said:
We are all sinners. No matter how hard we try not too, we always end up choosing to sin. It is our human nature. If you keep committing the same sins, then I think you aren’t really sorry for doing them. You should talk to your priest about your situation.
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I respectfully disagree. I struggle with weaknesses that cause me to fail but I am truly sorry for those times when I give in to strong temptation. Unless a person is so diversified that they might commit a continual variation of sins then chances are pretty good that they will fall in the same sin. You admit to being a sinner. Now you have two choices. 1) Everytime that you go to confession you confess something that you never did before or 2) You confess the same sins due to your areas of weakness.

If you answered number one then you should be out of sins by now. If you answered number two then, by your reasoning, you are not really sorry for your offenses to God. Rethink your position as I’m sure that you are very sorry when you do fall into the same sin and confess it. That is the very nature of Reconciliation. My children have shown me disrespect and apologized profusely only to disrespect me again in the same manner. It’s, as you said, human nature…teachccd
 
Piage3 said:
If you keep committing the same sins, then I think you aren’t really sorry for doing them.
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It’s possible, but it sure sounds like the original poster is sorry, even upset about committing them. It sounds more likely that he or she suffers from the same problem we all do, including the apostle I quoted below. If he had trouble, we shouldn’t be surprised that we do, too!
 
Piage3 said:
We are all sinners. No matter how hard we try not too, we always end up choosing to sin. It is our human nature. If you keep committing the same sins, then I think you aren’t really sorry for doing them. You should talk to your priest about your situation.
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I failed to notice that you are new to this forum…Welcome!!!
**I didn’t mean to be hard on you in my last post, just honest with myself…😃 **
 
Sorry, for deserting my own thread! I became extremely bogged down with school and work.

@Sheila: In your response, you asked one question that I am at a crossroads: Do you really want to stop? What can I do if my answer to that is no?

My other concern is that it is not one sin that I repeatedly commit, it is a much larger number. Trying to live according to the Catechism is difficult for me and my wife.

As far as my thoughts are before I commit these sins, there are rarely any. At least not any that will deter from doing these sins anyway.

@surf(name removed by moderator)ure: Great quote! I think that what I am upset about is that a choice with two outcomes is presented to me. One that makes God happy, and one that doesn’t. It seems to me that 9 times out of 10, I choose the latter.

What is most disconcerting is that I appear to be making no effort to stop.
 
workingonit said:
New member here. I suppose I have a pretty serious problem.

I am a sinner. (Don’t worry, I know we all are pretty much.)
And I will sin again. (Same for everyone I’m sure.)

Though lately I’ve been having a hard time with the Sacrament of Confession. I feel as if I am not really confessing my sins when I know that despite my best efforts, I will commit those same sins again. Am I really sorry for my sins when I know that I will be back at square one, possibly in the very near future. What does it mean to confess the same sins every time? Why bother confessing them if you don’t really mean it?

I think my real problem is this: God has given me free will, and I find myself constantly choosing to sin.

I guess I am always finding myself running up against the teachings of the Catholic faith. It seems like everything I do is a sin according to the Catechism. Am I still Catholic if I keep making choices that don’t coincide with the church teachings?
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…I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy Grace to sin no more and, - to avoid the near occasions of sin -… that is to say, " I will not place myself in this or that situation that brings about my recidivous behavior." “I will not frequent this person or person or gathering of these people whose ideas and behavior are against catholic teaching”.

To avoid the “near occasion of sin” is to stay away, break away, stear clear of the people, places and things that bring on the temptation that I can’t resist very well instigating in me the occasion to sin.

If I avoid these aforementioned circumstances, then I am truly making a “firm resolve” aided by Thy Grace.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.
 
workingonit said:
Sorry, for deserting my own thread! I became extremely bogged down with school and work.

@Sheila: In your response, you asked one question that I am at a crossroads: Do you really want to stop? What can I do if my answer to that is no?
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You can decide that you want to stop. You can say, “Mother Mary, I want to want to be pure like you. Please help me want to put aside my sins, so that I can begin to please your Son, and enjoy greater pleasures than what these sins can give me.”
What is most disconcerting is that I appear to be making no effort to stop.
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Begin with the desire to stop, and everything else will follow. It takes time. Be kind to yourself. (But not so kind that you spoil yourself rotten by getting away with too much.)

Go to Confession as often as you need to.
 
I would add to those two good posts that we can do nothing good of our own human strength. No matter how firm our resolve in the confessional, unless we ask for, expect, and rely on the grace of God, all our efforts not to sin are in vain.

When I spend my holy hour before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, I beg Him, by way of our Holy Mother, to pour out His grace upon me. I plead for Him never to hold back, regardless of my pitiful state as a poor sinner. I pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Rosary. I have also begun to make frequent spiritual acts of communion, throughout the day, followed by a visit to some image of Our Lady, by whom all grace is dispensed.

St. Josemaria Escriva comforts us that the resolve to sin no more at the time of confession is sufficient to make our confession valid and efficacious. I highly recommend his writings for formation of conscience and spiritual encouragement. They have helped my husband and me a great deal.
 
workingonit said:
Sorry, for deserting my own thread! I became extremely bogged down with school and work.

@Sheila: In your response, you asked one question that I am at a crossroads: Do you really want to stop? What can I do if my answer to that is no?

My other concern is that it is not one sin that I repeatedly commit, it is a much larger number. Trying to live according to the Catechism is difficult for me and my wife.

As far as my thoughts are before I commit these sins, there are rarely any. At least not any that will deter from doing these sins anyway.

@surf(name removed by moderator)ure: Great quote! I think that what I am upset about is that a choice with two outcomes is presented to me. One that makes God happy, and one that doesn’t. It seems to me that 9 times out of 10, I choose the latter.

What is most disconcerting is that I appear to be making no effort to stop.
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i will start at the bottom and work my way up. you are making an effort to stop because you are acknowledging your weaknesses…i think you are not being honest with yourself if you really did a detailed look the figure most likely would be closer to 50-50.(not ever day but on average)maybe you are not noticing the good that you really do…being able to recognize the “triggerring” thoughts is what is mentioned.ie thinking about something sinful,before commiting a sin.with the execption being sins committed in flash anger.to which we must add our self discipline to that of Christ’s…nobody said it was easy,it is important that we try and equally important to know when we fail…why would the answer be no if you want to do all you can to serve God.
 
You have gotten some good advice. The only thing I might add is…if you are having trouble with a sin, and also with not having a firm resolve to stop…back up a step and ask for the* desire to stop,* or for the power to detest the sin…etc. I heard Father Corapi talk about this. Ask God for the thing you need first! It makes sense.

God Bless you on your journey. Believe me, you are not alone. Let us all pray for each other.

Peace,
Kelly
 
happyseppy said:
You have gotten some good advice. The only thing I might add is…if you are having trouble with a sin, and also with not having a firm resolve to stop…back up a step and ask for the* desire to stop,* or for the power to detest the sin…etc. I heard Father Corapi talk about this. Ask God for the thing you need first! It makes sense.

God Bless you on your journey. Believe me, you are not alone. Let us all pray for each other.

Peace,
Kelly
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Amen! :clapping:
 
we have ajealous God for a God as our Lord said one can not serve two masters they will either love one and hate the other…workingonit these words from Christ are meant for you.you have stated to the effect that you have confesed sins which you are not sorry for and intend to repeat.knowing that they are sinful acts,these sins are your god if you desire to continue in them in the end you would you rather have enternity in the love of God or an eternity of hate.after this life that is all which is left.the god you have now will leave you with hate for everything,even of love.the God of the living will leave you with an enternity of love.
 
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