Do we sin when not loving God as much as we can?

[JRKH]

I asked the question to see if there was any consensus as to what this passage of scripture is saying.

Fair enough/.
The consensus seems to be that you are misunderstanding - or perhaps mis applying - the passage.

How am I disobeying the Church by choosing to try and love God with all my mind and strength?

LOVE!

You made the following statement in your post…

…
Regardless of what a priest may say about whether or not it’s a sin, I’m going to follow what is in my heart …

LOVE!

I assumed from that statement that you had asked your priest about this and was told that it was not a sin…in other words…matching the consensus you are getting here.

Your priest represents the magisterium of the Church - duly appointed by Christ to guide you. So the Church, in the person of the priest tells you that you are misunderstanding this and the people here tell you that you are misunderstanding this…

I just wonder how it is you can so stringently hold to the one passage while basically ignoring the other passage - both are spoken directly by Jesus to us as disciples.

Peace
James

 

[JRKH]

Robert - let me be clear on something here…
No one is saying that you are wrong to try to Love God with you whole mind and strength. But you asked a specific question and received a specific answer.

Loving someone with your whole being does not mean consciously thinking about them 24-7. That is not necessary and can even be counterproductive.
When you love, you carry that person in your heart…they are a part of you whether you consciously think of them or not…

So if you watch a football game and don’t consciously think of your loved one…that does not mean you do not love them with your whole being…

It’s as simple as that…

Peace
James

 

[Robert_Sock]

Fair enough/.
The consensus seems to be that you are misunderstanding - or perhaps mis applying - the passage.

You made the following statement in your post…

I assumed from that statement that you had asked your priest about this and was told that it was not a sin…in other words…matching the consensus you are getting here.

Your priest represents the magisterium of the Church - duly appointed by Christ to guide you. So the Church, in the person of the priest tells you that you are misunderstanding this and the people here tell you that you are misunderstanding this…

I just wonder how it is you can so stringently hold to the one passage while basically ignoring the other passage - both are spoken directly by Jesus to us as disciples.

Peace
James

I think I may not have been clear. I have yet to ask a priest, but regardless of what he may say, I’m going to try and love God with all my mind and all my strength. Surely I’m not sinning doing this.

LOVE!

 

[JRKH]

I think I may not have been clear. I have yet to ask a priest, but regardless of what he may say, I’m going to try and love God with all my mind and all my strength. Surely I’m not sinning doing this.

LOVE!

Of course you are not sinning in doing this…However - as we have stated - loving someone fully does not require that you are consciously thinking about them every waking moment.

I am sure that your pries/spiritual director will tell you the same thing.

Peace
James

 

[GLam8833]

Okay, let me “sock it to you”:

Let’s NOT forget Jesus also commanded us
to love each other! How can we SHOW our love
to Christ? BY LOVING OTHER CHRISTIANS!
If we do not love our brother, whom we CAN see,
how can we say we love God, whom we CANNOT?

Jesus did not leave us ALONE, we are ONE BIG
FAMILY, and we are to be a community of LOVE!
How can we love God daily? Seek those Christian
brothers and sisters who NEED encouragement,
a helping hand, a smile…

 

[ready]

Mark 12:30 RSV
and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

I feel that I’m sinning when ever I fall short of this commandment of Christ, such as when I used to watch a football game.

LOVE!

Whenever we sin we are not loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Whenever we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength we are not sinning. When we love a creature more than we love God we offend Him and thus sin against Him, for every offense against God is a sin. Every time we love a creature more than Him we offend Him and thus are sinning – we are not loving Him as we are commanded to: with all our heart, mind, soul and strength – we are sinning, we are loving some pleasure, some trifle more than we love our God and are transgressing some commandment. When we are gluttonous we love the pleasure of food, a mere creature, more than we love God, who we should be loving with all our heart, mind, soul and strength; when we are greedy we love the pleasure of money and power more than we love God, who we should be loving with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. When we love God as commanded, that is, with all our heart mind, soul and strength we are not disobeying Him; when we do not love God as commanded, that is, with all our heart mind soul and strength we are disobeying him, we are transgressing some commandment, one of the 10 Commandments or one of the 6 Precepts of the Church. When is disobedience not a transgression against some commandment or precept? Never, it is always sinful.

A person can go to a football game without loving the game more than God, without offending God and sinning against Him. Going to a football game is sinful when one’s duties according to one’s state in life are not being met, or when one puts oneself in the near occasion of sinning mortally by some strong temptation at a football game for some, like immodestly dressed cheerleaders.

God bless you, and Mary keep you.

 

[ready]

Whenever we sin we are not loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Whenever we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength we are not sinning. When we love a creature more than we love God we offend Him and thus sin against Him, for every offense against God is a sin. Every time we love a creature more than Him we offend Him and thus are sinning – we are not loving Him as we are commanded to: with all our heart, mind, soul and strength – we are sinning, we are loving some pleasure, some trifle more than we love our God and are transgressing some commandment. When we are gluttonous we love the pleasure of food, a mere creature, more than we love God, who we should be loving with all our heart, mind, soul and strength; when we are greedy we love the pleasure of money and power more than we love God, who we should be loving with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. When we love God as commanded, that is, with all our heart mind, soul and strength we are not disobeying Him; when we do not love God as commanded, that is, with all our heart mind soul and strength we are disobeying him, we are transgressing some commandment, one of the 10 Commandments or one of the 6 Precepts of the Church. When is disobedience not a transgression against some commandment or precept? Never, it is always sinful.

A person can go to a football game without loving the game more than God, without offending God and sinning against Him. Going to a football game is sinful when one’s duties according to one’s state in life are not being met, or when one puts oneself in the near occasion of sinning mortally by some strong temptation at a football game for some, like immodestly dressed cheerleaders.

God bless you, and Mary keep you.

I forgot to mention that unnecessarily putting oneself in the near occasion of sinning venially is sinful in itself. And I meant to say that if going to a football game would involve a neglect of one’s duties according to one’s state in life, then it would be sinful. God bless you.

 

[Robert_Sock]

Whenever we sin we are not loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Whenever we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength we are not sinning. When we love a creature more than we love God we offend Him and thus sin against Him, for every offense against God is a sin. Every time we love a creature more than Him we offend Him and thus are sinning – we are not loving Him as we are commanded to: with all our heart, mind, soul and strength – we are sinning, we are loving some pleasure, some trifle more than we love our God and are transgressing some commandment. When we are gluttonous we love the pleasure of food, a mere creature, more than we love God, who we should be loving with all our heart, mind, soul and strength; when we are greedy we love the pleasure of money and power more than we love God, who we should be loving with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. When we love God as commanded, that is, with all our heart mind, soul and strength we are not disobeying Him; when we do not love God as commanded, that is, with all our heart mind soul and strength we are disobeying him, we are transgressing some commandment, one of the 10 Commandments or one of the 6 Precepts of the Church. When is disobedience not a transgression against some commandment or precept? Never, it is always sinful.

A person can go to a football game without loving the game more than God, without offending God and sinning against Him. Going to a football game is sinful when one’s duties according to one’s state in life are not being met, or when one puts oneself in the near occasion of sinning mortally by some strong temptation at a football game for some, like immodestly dressed cheerleaders.

God bless you, and Mary keep you.

I agree with most of what you said, however, I believe it is a righteous sacrifice to do away with as many distractions in this life as possible to focus more clearly on God. Using our spare time to go to a football game or watching TV instead of worshiping God, is folly, if not a sin. With our attention fixed on football, we are not worshiping God in the here and now; in a sense, we are worshiping football, a false idol. We are all sinners because we all fall short in our worship of God. I’ve given up football and TV, but now I’m addicted to the Internet, but I try hard to always keep a part of my mind on God.

LOVE!

 

[meltzerboy]

I agree with most of what you said, however, I believe it is a righteous sacrifice to do away with as many distractions in this life as possible to focus more clearly on God. Using our spare time to go to a football game or watching TV instead of worshiping God, is folly, if not a sin. With our attention fixed on football, we are not worshiping God in the here and now; in a sense, we are worshiping football, a false idol. We are all sinners because we all fall short in our worship of God. I’ve given up football and TV, but now I’m addicted to the Internet, but I try hard to always keep a part of my mind on God.

LOVE!

IOW, you seem to be saying that enjoying ourselves by engaging in even a “neutral” activity that is not in itself negative or sinful, is still a sinful act because we are not engaged in worshiping G-d, which is the ultimate positive activity. Would this also apply to learning secular subject matter instead of worshiping G-d? Does it not occur to you that behaviors which involve our reason, senses, and emotions for the purpose of edification and/or entertainment may make use, rather than abuse, the faculties that G-d gave us for our happiness and well-being, as well as refresh our mind and spirit so that we can better worship G-d? Quantity of worship does not necessarily equate to quality of worship.

 

[Robert_Sock]

IOW, you seem to be saying that enjoying ourselves by engaging in even a “neutral” activity that is not in itself negative or sinful, is still a sinful act because we are not engaged in worshiping G-d, which is the ultimate positive activity. Would this also apply to learning secular subject matter instead of worshiping G-d? Does it not occur to you that behaviors which involve our reason, senses, and emotions for the purpose of edification and/or entertainment may make use, rather than abuse, the faculties that G-d gave us for our happiness and well-being, as well as refresh our mind and spirit so that we can better worship G-d? Quantity of worship does not necessarily equate to quality of worship.

If we are doing the will of God, such as studying to promote the welfare of society, then it’s not sinful. Same is true in parenting. It’s when we actively seek worldly pleasure in and of itself that we sin.

LOVE!

 

[SpeakKindly]

I’d say that we should remember that love is an action, not a feeling. With that in mind, any action done or not done (including thoughts) that go against God are failing to love God and others. However, I’d also add that we are not expected to do this impossible, and I’d say that our culpability can change with the season, due to our weaknesses to do what’s right, let alone having a fallible conscience.

 

[JRKH]

I agree with most of what you said, however, I believe it is a righteous sacrifice to do away with as many distractions in this life as possible to focus more clearly on God.

I agree with this.

Using our spare time to go to a football game or watching TV instead of worshiping God, is folly, if not a sin.

Disagree with this. I have watched the mass on TV - was that folly?

With our attention fixed on football, we are not worshiping God in the here and now; in a sense, we are worshiping football, a false idol.

The start of this thread is about the command to Love God with all of our mind and strength. I can Love God with all my strength and still watch football…or run…or swim…or do many other things. Love is a state of being.
Worship is another aspect of the matter. We are not commanded to worship God 24/7…We are commanded to Love Him.
Watching and enjoying football (or some other activity) does not equate to worship. Thinking about something other than God does not equate to worship…
Certainly it CAN - - but there is no direct correlation.

We are all sinners because we all fall short in our worship of God. I’ve given up football and TV, but now I’m addicted to the Internet, but I try hard to always keep a part of my mind on God.

LOVE!

We are sinners because we fall short in Love Agape…Try not to conflate the two things - Love and the act of worship…

Peace
James

 

[Robert_Sock]

Disagree with this. I have watched the mass on TV - was that folly?

Picky, picky picky!

We are sinners because we fall short in Love Agape…Try not to conflate the two things - Love and the act of worship…

Peace
James

Please distinguish the action of loving God from the action of worshiping Him.

LOVE!

 

[ready]

I agree with most of what you said, however, I believe it is a righteous sacrifice to do away with as many distractions in this life as possible to focus more clearly on God. Using our spare time to go to a football game or watching TV instead of worshiping God, is folly, if not a sin. With our attention fixed on football, we are not worshiping God in the here and now; in a sense, we are worshiping football, a false idol. We are all sinners because we all fall short in our worship of God. I’ve given up football and TV, but now I’m addicted to the Internet, but I try hard to always keep a part of my mind on God.

LOVE!

I was not saying at all that one should miss worship to attend a football game. Of course, that would be sinful, mortally sinful. But our Lord hasn’t a problem with people engaging in wholesome recreation from time to time – it helps people; even religious have recreation time for an hour at night.

 

[Robert_Sock]

I was not saying at all that one should miss worship to attend a football game. Of course, that would be sinful, mortally sinful. But our Lord hasn’t a problem with people engaging in wholesome recreation from time to time – it helps people; even religious have recreation time for an hour at night.

I was using ‘worship’ the same way I was using ‘love.’

How do you interpret the command to love God with all our mind? I see this as being an active state-of-mind.

The Imitation of Christ makes clear again and again that we should avoid worldly pleasure, so maybe the recreation time is meant for health of the body.

LOVE!

 

[ready]

I was using ‘worship’ the same way I was using ‘love.’

How do you interpret the command to love God with all our mind? I see this as being an active state-of-mind.

The Imitation of Christ makes clear again and again that we should avoid worldly pleasure, so maybe the recreation time is meant for health of the body.

LOVE!

Recreation time is supposed to rejuvenate both the body and the soul. My recreation consists in reading Catholic books and in speaking on the phone from time to time with family and friends. I do not watch any TV, listen to the radio, attend sports or engage in other worldly recreations. But I do know of holy priests who do some of these things, and I am quite sure that their recreations do not distance them at all from God, but make it possible for them to draw even closer to Him.

 

[Robert_Sock]

Recreation time is supposed to rejuvenate both the body and the soul. My recreation consists in reading Catholic books and in speaking on the phone from time to time with family and friends. I do not watch any TV, listen to the radio, attend sports or engage in other worldly recreations. But I do know of holy priests who do some of these things, and I am quite sure that their recreations do not distance them at all from God, but make it possible for them to draw even closer to Him.

I’m sure that those in the religious communities would not watch football if they thought it was sinful, and I certainly do not want to judge them, but my conscience tells me otherwise. Loving God with all our mind and all our strength implies an active, ongoing state-of-mind.

LOVE!

 

[ready]

I’m sure that those in the religious communities would not watch football if they thought it was sinful, and I certainly do not want to judge them, but my conscience tells me otherwise. Loving God with all our mind and all our strength implies an active, ongoing state-of-mind.

LOVE!

If you find your going to a football game to be sinful, then you should not do it. But there is nothing intrinsically evil in attending a football game, unless, of course one is sitting in front of immodestly dressed cheerleaders who are an occasion of sin for oneself. It would be wrong to judge a person attending a football game to be guilty of sin merely because he is watching/attending a football game. At his football game, he could find himself experiencing a closeness to God that excels another person’s closeness to God during, say, his vocal prayer. Let us not judge a person as guilty of sin when they are not engaging in anything intrinsically evil – their heart could be closer to God while engaged in their recreation than another person’s heart who is engaged in prayer.

 

[JRKH]

Picky, picky picky!

Not at all…You made a blanket statement that watching TV was folly, if not sinful…I was simply pointing out that it is less about watching TV than it is about WHAT is watched.

Please distinguish the action of loving God from the action of worshiping Him.

No problem. Love is a state of being. Worship is one form of action that is an expression of that Love.
If Loving God is the core of my very being, then it won’t matter where I am - I will still be fully in Love with God. Even if I am not actually thinking about God my Love of Him will show in every thing I do…even at a football game…
And my being in in love with God - if I go to a football game - then God is made present to others by my being there…This can be a very good thing.

Peace
James

 

[Robert_Sock]

No problem. Love is a state of being. Worship is one form of action that is an expression of that Love.
If Loving God is the core of my very being, then it won’t matter where I am - I will still be fully in Love with God. Even if I am not actually thinking about God my Love of Him will show in every thing I do…even at a football game…
And my being in in love with God - if I go to a football game - then God is made present to others by my being there…This can be a very good thing.

Peace
James

Loving God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength is not an act of worship?

Do you agree that loving God with all our mind and all our strength implies an active, ongoing state-of-mind?

LOVE!