Coping with temptations

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franklin

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I’ve been dealing with temptations of negative thoughts, lust and gossiping/mocking for some time now. Some of it may be due to temptations from the outside (i.e. co-workers initiating gossip, watching a movie with nudity, etc.), but there are also a lot of temptations that arise from within namely in the form of negative thoughts about some family members, past bosses/co-workers, etc. I’ve gone to confession for this of course and I do have ways of dealing with these temptations (mostly through prayer) but just want to know how you guys/gals have overcome or are working to overcome temptations in life - namely those that stem from within.

Also, what is the fine line between tempting thoughts and a sin? (i.e. I may have full knowledge that an act is evil but immediately come to regret it knowing that these thoughts reached their boiling point and I lacked self control/discipline in the moment).
 
Meditation.
That’s where I’d start first.
Quieting the mind down.
Quenching thoughts.
Staying in the present moment.
Doing spiritual warfare.

Then, prayer.
 
I have a friend who uses this image: a thought comes knocking at the door of my mind, and I crack the door to see what’s there. If it’s not a thought I want to welcome, I shut the door.

If a thought Jesus wouldn’t like comes knocking and I immediately close the door, I don’t worry about confessing it. If I “look twice,” I’m on alert. If I open the door and invite it in to play, that’s when I start thinking about what I’m going to say in confession.

For example, I’m often - like, every morning all through Mass - shutting the door on bitterness, resentment, and self-pity. Once there was a situation that made the problem temporarily worse, and I kept “looking twice” until one day anger came knocking and I actually let it in. That I had to confess.
franklin said:
knowing that these thoughts reached their boiling point
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Here you’re recognizing that sins of thought don’t usually appear out of nowhere. If we shut the door on problematic thoughts at the first knock, they never gain entrance, never get near the heat of our hearts, and never come to a boil. All we have to do is shut the door! (Which is funny, because that suddenly made me think of a song from high school chorus camp.)

I hope that’s helpful. 🙂
 
franklin said:
Also, what is the fine line between tempting thoughts and a sin?
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Consent of the will.

But there’s a danger in over-analyzing or obsessing about whether one actually consented to a temptation or not. If you’re consistently not sure whether you consented, but yet are tormenting yourself wondering about it, you probably should speak to a Confessor about scrupulosity.
 
Dear Franklin,
Somewhere in our lives, someone said,” We have the right to personal happiness for our selfish nature. Really, we have a right to happiness ion our spiritual journey s God.
His dos and donts, if followed saves us pain and sin. IF YOU LOVE ME KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.
So, we don’t watch movies or TV programs that are sinful and will lead us into temptation and sinful thoughts. Don’t engage in a bad thing and it won’t haunt you.
Discipline and substitution. Your sitting still and thinking. Get up and do something. Read your Bible. Watch EWTN. Play Christian music.
Buy good DVDS OF CHRISTIAN MOvies.
We are in the world but not of the world. If you put your foot in the world. You’ll do something stupid and sin.
A happy life can be found in the church. Hanging w good ppl. One can stay pure.
Lord,
Let Franklin see his life that he chooses. Let him see the trip wires that get him. Give him courage to make changes.
In Jesus name
Amen
Tweedlealice

. Push-pin bullet The Original Full Version

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
 
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