Disadvantages/consequences to a sinful lifestyle

[Eucharisted]

Hi everyone. What are the disadvantages/consequences to a sinful lifestyle other than Hell? I ask because my faith is currently faltering and I am having trouble with staying faithful to the Catholic Church. At this point, I’d rather just live a sinful lifestyle but I at least want to consider the consequences first. Please help me out.

Fear, anxiety, loss of happiness, and a foretaste of Hell (loss of God).

God knows we sin, so don’t be worried. Be sorrowful over your sins, but don’t worry. Entrust the past to God’s Mercy. Trust in the Lord. He has given you a way to turn back to Him: contrition and confession. After each sin, make an act of contrition. Then when you can, go to Confession. If you must make a list of sins, so be it; God will not reject you, for He knows your limits, having created you. After Confession, amend your life, by God’s grace. Entrust the present to His Love and the future to His Providence. Trust in Him and know that He permits Satan to tempt you so tha your fidelity to Him may be proven. If you win temptations, He will come into your heart, for you have chosen Him; but if you give into temptations, than Satan will come into your heart, for you have chosen evil and the fallen angel is evil personified.

But no one can enter your heart unless you will it. The will is the door of the Heart. So unless you will to commit sin, you commit no sin. Simply having temptations, having unwanted thoughts, having terrible circumstances dose not constitute sin; these are but battles. It is when you use your will - either resisting or giving into temptation - that you either win or lose the battles. Because you are weak, being human, you must not fight against Satan, but rather, run to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and jump into it, and ask for the intercession of the saints, most especially the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Don’t respond to Satan should he speak to you; be silent, like a lamb before the slaughter. Neither Jesus speak to his accusers, but kept silent, only praying as He suffered. The more temptations and crosses increase, so the more you ought to pray. It is enough to keep Jesus’ Name on your lips at all times, for than you pray everything. But not all souls can do this, not all can pray so passionately; so pray as God has taught you and do not fear; trust in Him!

 

[Shin]

Whenever you imagine a sin as attractive, replace that attractive imagining with the gaping jaws of Hell. Truly. Do this. It will help.

Realize it is real.

Replace the attraction of sin with disgust, think of something disgusting instead. Truly. Do this. It will help.

Realize this is the real way it is. Read and listen to the saints and the scriptures until you know it.

Change your lifestyle. Completely. You need a total change in lifestyle. Live for the joy of doing things for God. Learn new hobbies, related to Godly things. Throw away the old.

Avoid not only sin but occasions of sin like the plague. This is necessary. It keeps you away from temptations so you can overcome them, and it is a sin to enter into near occasions of sin without the gravest need.

In your soul you must realize that sin equals Hell. Leaving the Faith is leaving God. . Hell. Occasions of sin, equal occasions of Hell.

Occasions of holiness, equal occasions of Heaven.

Heaven is beautiful, God is beautiful… indescribably beautiful. If for our own interior flaws we have not realized it, we have at least the Lord’s message to us that we need to change interiorly to realize it. We need to change, we must not seek after the world, we must seek after the love of God.

We must not be like the world, we must separate ourselves and be like the few who enter Heaven through the narrow gate.

The Lord is truest and most faithful Love, he does not deserve our sin, our neglect, our uncaring distaste for following His Way of the Cross.

He deserves our true love in return! He created us, loved us from before our creation, suffered for us, died for us. . No truer love exists or ever will, and we are not faithful? We do not care? We do not concern ourselves? We do not listen? And what do we do instead?

No more of this! Let us love God while there is still time to love.

They who are to be saved as Saints, and wish to be saved as imperfect souls, shall not be saved.

Pope St. Gregory the Great

The saints are few, but we must live with the few if we would be saved with the few. O God, too few indeed they are; yet among those few I wish to be!

St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori

‘If you want to be certain of being in the number of the Elect, strive to be one of the few, not one of the many. And if you would be quite sure of your salvation, strive to be among the fewest of the few; that is to say: do not follow the great majority of mankind, but follow those who enter upon the narrow way, who renounce the world, who give themselves to prayer, and who never relax their efforts by day or night, so that they may attain everlasting blessedness.’

St. Anselm of Canterbury

We do not keep an account of the graces which God has given us, but God our Lord keeps an account of them. He has fixed the measure thereof.

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

It is well to deny ourselves that which is permitted, in order to avoid more easily that which is not.

St. Benedict

Because eternal beatitude surpasses the natural state, especially since it has been deprived of original grace, it is the little number that are saved.

St. Thomas Aquinas

“One day, I went to Jacinta’s house to spend a little while with her. I found her sitting on her bed, deep in thought. ‘Jacinta, what are you thinking about?’ ‘About the war that is coming . So many people are going to die, and almost all of them are going to hell! Many homes will be destroyed, and many priests will be killed. Look, I am going to heaven …’”

Sister Lucia’s Memoirs

The Vision of Hell of St. Faustina

I know you asked other than Hell… but I can’t but include it… because every sin includes it… separation from God… is Hell. And it’s why life is tough!

 

[AveSantaMaria]

The saints are few, but we must live with the few if we would be saved with the few. O God, too few indeed they are; yet among those few I wish to be!

St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori

We do not keep an account of the graces which God has given us, but God our Lord keeps an account of them. He has fixed the measure thereof.

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

“One day, I went to Jacinta’s house to spend a little while with her. I found her sitting on her bed, deep in thought. ‘Jacinta, what are you thinking about?’ ‘About the war that is coming . So many people are going to die, and almost all of them are going to hell! Many homes will be destroyed, and many priests will be killed. Look, I am going to heaven …’”

Sister Lucia’s Memoirs

The Vision of Hell of St. Faustina

I know you asked other than Hell… but I can’t but include it… because every sin includes it… separation from God… is Hell. And it’s why life is tough!

Shin, I am a great devotee of Christ through Mary and so I always pay special attention to any of the sants who were also devotees of Mary.

Maybe you might let me know which St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori works those come from. As well Sister Lucia’s Memoirs, did she publish them?

Here are other reasons:

Excerpt from: The Interior Castle: The First Mansions: Chapter II. The Human Soul

1. BEFORE going farther, I wish you to consider the state to which mortal sin brings this magnificent and beautiful castle, this pearl of the East, this tree of life, planted beside the living waters of life which symbolize God Himself. No night can be so dark, no gloom nor blackness can compare to its obscurity. Suffice it to say that the sun in the centre of the soul, which gave it such splendour and beauty, is totally eclipsed, though the spirit is as fitted to enjoy God’s presence as in the crystal to reflect the sun.

1. While the soul is in mortal sin nothing can profit it; none of its good works merit an eternal reward, since they do not proceed from God as their first principle, and by Him alone is our virtue real virtue. The soul separated from Him is no longer pleasing in His eyes, because by committing a mortal sin, instead of seeking to please God, it prefers to gratify the devil, the prince of darkness, and so comes to share his blackness. I knew a person to whom our Lord revealed the result of a mortal sin and who said she thought no one who realized its effects could ever commit it, but would suffer unimaginable torments to avoid it. This vision made her very desirous for all to grasp this truth, therefore I beg you, my daughters, to pray fervently to God for sinners, who live in blindness and do deeds of darkness.

sacred-texts.com/chr/tic/tic06.htm

St. Teresa de Avila wrote Interior Castle. She is one of the three female Doctors of the Church. She reformed the Carmelite order and even convinced St. John of the Cross, mystical Doctor of the Church, to join. His Holiness Pope John Paul II and St. Therese of Liseux (one of the other three female Doctors of the Church) were also Carmelites. Sr. Lucy of Fatima was also a Carmelite!

 

[Monica4316]

Hi everyone. What are the disadvantages/consequences to a sinful lifestyle other than Hell? I ask because my faith is currently faltering and I am having trouble with staying faithful to the Catholic Church. At this point, I’d rather just live a sinful lifestyle but I at least want to consider the consequences first. Please help me out.

Hi Holly,

well one consequence of sin (other than hell) is that it draws us away from God and His grace, which means that our faith falters as a result and we find it even more difficult to avoid sin. The more we sin, the easier it becomes to sin, and the harder it gets to practice holiness and live according to God’s commands. Try your best sister and God will take your efforts the rest of the way hugs
God bless

 

[jamesneiman]

If you are not already doing so, I would urge you to go to confession regularly, even knowing that you may fall into sin again. Be sincere in your wish to avoid sin, which according to the Catechism requires a lifelong effort to achieve mastery. Admit that you cannot succeed alone and that you need God’s grace and mercy to prevail against sin. If you are sincere in your contrition you will merit God’s mercy and forgiveness, and you will receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. That grace will strengthen you and help you avoid sin.

 

[whatevergirl]

Hi everyone. What are the disadvantages/consequences to a sinful lifestyle other than Hell? I ask because my faith is currently faltering and I am having trouble with staying faithful to the Catholic Church. At this point, I’d rather just live a sinful lifestyle but I at least want to consider the consequences first. Please help me out.

**The number one consequence to living a sinful lifestyle, is that one day you wake up…when the fun is over…and you don’t know who you even are anymore. You become the worst version of yourself, and that is a bad bad place to be. I think the consequences to sin are many, and varied, depending on the sin, of course…if you hurt others…etc…

But, not knowing who you are, is a pretty awful feeling. Probably that is number two. Number one would be, when you wake up from your long walk away from God, you realize that you’ ve betrayed Him. There is nothing more awful that coming to your senses after doing something sinful…than realizing you betrayed God. Take my word for that. No one escapes that I don’t think. Even if the consequences to our actions might not result in something tangible going wrong…there is nothing worse than turning one’s back on God. God forgives us. But, knowing that we turned our back on all that Love…is very sobering.

Whatever you’re struggling with right now, whatever you might be tempted to do…trust me…don’t do it. Sin is so insidious…the devil is very good at making sin look delightful and what’s worse, is he is good at convincing us that we ‘need’ to sin in order to be happy…or happier. I liken it too, to placing a frog in a pot of cold water. Turn the heat up just a bit…the frog remains. Keep turning the flame up…frog stays in…

Finally…the heat is the highest it can go…the frog finally jumps out…to save its own life. So…the same is with sin. It is very cold in the beginning…so you take a dip…then, before you know it, you are completely immersed in it…and you will be like…how did I get here? Sin is nothing more than a slow pressure cooker…

No one rushes towards sin…they flirt with the idea of it…then obsess over it…then, they do it. It’s a process. It’s good that you are catching yourself before you become that frog who wants to jump out of the pot…just don’t get into the pot.

I’ll pray for you, Holly.**

 

[Eucharisted]

I once asked God, “O Lord, show me the ugliness of sin, that I might sin no more.” And in an instant I was shown the most horrifying personification of evil. I cannot even describe it. Sin is ugly and it is terrifying - do not do it.

 

[whatevergirl]

Having done some stupid things in my life, and now I can look at it from the other side, Holly…I’d also add that two things happen when you sin:

1. you hurt your relationship with God
2. you hurt yourself
3. if you involve others, you hurt others, too

Even an atheist will have #2 happen to him/her. We make an invisible ‘deal with the devil’ when we sin, whether we realize it or not. And many don’t think that #2 will happen. Because sin typically ‘feels’ good when it is happening at first…you are happy…you are glad you are doing the sin, but you don’t call it sin, of course, at that stage. But, eventually…sooner or later…you will see it for what it is, and then the devil has won on two fronts…hurting you and hurting God. That is all he wants…to hurt people and God.

God bless, and again, you’re in my prayers!

 

[whatevergirl]

Oh…and here are two great sayings…to sum it all up lol!

*1) The pain of regret is far worse than the pain of discipline

1. The Church is not here to prevent us from fun, but rather to prevent us from a fall.*

 

[joseph123]

What are the disadvantages/consequences to a sinful lifestyle other than Hell?

That seems like an amusing question. If an eternity spent in excruciating pain and despair in a lake of fire isn’t enough of a deterrent to keep you out of a sinful lifestyle have no idea what would be.

 

[AveSantaMaria]

Thank you whatevergirl for these words of wisdom. The help illuminate me as well.

 

[Shin]

I once asked God, “O Lord, show me the ugliness of sin, that I might sin no more.” And in an instant I was shown the most horrifying personification of evil. I cannot even describe it. Sin is ugly and it is terrifying - do not do it.

It’s good to see and hear of!

“One morning, while I was confessing the men, a tall, thin man dressed in a rather refined manner and with good manners presented himself to me. When he knelt down, this stranger began to confess his sins which were of every kind against God, against his neighbor, against the moral law; they were all aberrant! One thing struck me. After my reprimanding all those accusations, using the word of God, the Teaching of the Church, and the moral teaching of the saints to back up my words, this puzzling penitent counterbalanced my words, justifying, with great ability and rare gentility, all types of sins, emptying them of all malice and trying, at the same time, to make all sinful acts appear to be normal, natural, humanly indifferent. And this did not only concern horrifying sins against Jesus, Our Lady and the Saints… but also sins that were morally so dirty and coarse that they reached the most
nauseating levels imaginable."

“The replies that this mysterious penitent gave every now and then to my arguments, with able subtlety and with cotton-wooled malice, made a terrible impression on me. I thought to myself: ‘Who is this? What world does he come from? Who is he?’ And I tried to look at him carefully in the face in order to perhaps eventually read something from between the lines of his face, and at the same time I listened very carefully to his every word so that none of them would escape me and I could weigh them up in all their significance. At a certain point, by way of an interior, vivid and brilliant light, I clearly perceived who it was before me. And with a decided and urgent tone I said to him: ‘Say: Live Jesus! Live Mary!’ As soon as I pronounced these most sweet and powerful names, Satan immediately disappeared in a flicker of fire, leaving behind him a suffocating stench.”

…

“I don’t have a minute of free time; it is all spent releasing brethren from the grip of Satan. Blessed be God! The greatest charity is that of liberating souls captivated by Satan and winning them for Christ. . . . If the Devil is making an uproar, it is an excellent sign: what is terrifying is his peace and concord with a man’s soul."

St. Padre Pio

Where a faithful Christian is being tempted to leave the faith, you can be sure that real evil is at work.

 

[Shin]

Ave Santa Maria, I will look them up in a few and get back to you. Remind me if I forget!

Ave, Ave, Ave. . .

 

[Shin]

I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. – Luke 15:7

Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. – Luke 15:10

In regards to the question earlier, the first quote ‘the saints are few’ from St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori is from ‘The Holy Eucharist’, the tenth meditation.

I couldn’t source the second quote in my electronic collection (and I can’t page through the paperbacks for it, sorry). He’s written a very large number of very thick books.

The Jacinta quote I have two sources listed for, neither which I have myself: [Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words: Sister Lucia’s Memoirs, ed. Fr. Louis Kondor, SVD,] or (Our Lady of Fatima, p. 94; p. 92 in some versions)

If you love St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, and you should some of the works that have benefited me the most are ‘Preparation for Death’, ‘The Great Means of Salvation and Perfection’, ‘Dignities and Duties of the Priesthood’ and ‘The True Spouse of Jesus Christ’.

He has also written a book called ‘The Glories of Mary’ which I do not doubt any person would profit from incalculably.

'Again, the holy Church calls her “the happy gate of heaven;” for as the same Saint Bernard remarks, ‘As every mandate of grace that is sent by a king, passes by the palace gates, so does every grace that comes from heaven to this world, pass through the hands of Mary"’ St. Bonaventure says that Mary is called ‘the Gate of heaven, because no one can enter the blessed kingdom without passing by her."’

• The Glories of Mary p. 127

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori is a wonderful Doctor of the Church brimming with holy erudite statements.

 

[AveSantaMaria]

Thank you Shin.

The only excerpts from St. Alphonsus de Liguori that I currently have saved in my list of bookmarks online. **The Glories of Mary, ** by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, one of the 33 Doctors of the Catholic Church, explains Hail Holy Queen http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/glories.htm

 

[Shin]

Thank you Shin.

The only excerpts from St. Alphonsus de Liguori that I currently have saved in my list of bookmarks online. **The Glories of Mary, ** by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, one of the 33 Doctors of the Catholic Church, explains Hail Holy Queen http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/glories.htm

His books are very thick and worth buying for reading, but you can find a great number of them online at archive.org too.

Ave, Ave, Ave…

 

[Holly3278]

I guess that I do not realize just how horrible Satan and Hell are. I wish I did. But I don’t really know how to get to the realization of just how horrible they are. I will pray about this.

 

[John_Russell_Jr]

I guess that I do not realize just how horrible Satan and Hell are. I wish I did. But I don’t really know how to get to the realization of just how horrible they are. I will pray about this.

Dear Holly

It’s a good question. You can read the mystics about hell to see just how agonisingly painful it is.
With demons they are different to us. They are pure evil. We often say this about our enemies or nast people but it’s not so in reality. We are good and can only do good. God has programmed us this way. Our world and everything in it is good. We can do evil but first we must change what is evil into god. It can be simply- he deserved it because of blah, blah, blah. Demons are not like us. They are pure evil and do evil for evils sake. We cannot understand them because of this. They always wrap the sin up as something good because they know their wasting their time if they tell us to do evil. Things that are pure evil are beyond our understanding. We know demons are very bad though. We don’t want to dwell with them. It’d be hell.

God bless you friend:thumbsup: