Does Confession Impart Grace to help in Stop Sinning?

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JamalChristophr

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I have been told or seem to have been told conflicting things about this. When I confess particular sins, does Confession impart grace to not commit those sins any longer?

Other viewpoints have said that thinking along these lines is not what confession is about but rather simply asking for God’s Mercy. And it may not necessarily help you or improve or stop committing sins x, y, and z because it is not exactly a sacrament of improvement. One priest told me a man was discouraged about confession and spiritual direction saying he did not get better, but the priest told him and me indirectly that it was not exactly his job to help him “get better”.

I’ve probably made the question too complex by tacking on the last part, but the main question is in the topic heading and the first of the post. Thanks for clarifying this for me. Because I’m a bit confused.

I am probably not the only person that is reluctant to go to confession because it seems to be having to confess the same sins over and over and not getting better which is rather discouraging.
 
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The sacrament imparts grace (by its nature of being a sacrament).
Grace helps us avoid sinning.
Ergo, Confession helps us avoid sinning.
 
1468 "The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God’s grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship."73 Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation "is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation."74 Indeed the sacrament of Reconciliation with God brings about a true “spiritual resurrection,” restoration of the dignity and blessings of the life of the children of God, of which the most precious is friendship with God.75

1469 This sacrament reconciles us with the Church. Sin damages or even breaks fraternal communion. The sacrament of Penance repairs or restores it. In this sense it does not simply heal the one restored to ecclesial communion, but has also a revitalizing effect on the life of the Church which suffered from the sin of one of her members.76 Re-established or strengthened in the communion of saints, the sinner is made stronger by the exchange of spiritual goods among all the living members of the Body of Christ, whether still on pilgrimage or already in the heavenly homeland:77

It must be recalled that . . . this reconciliation with God leads, as it were, to other reconciliations, which repair the other breaches caused by sin. The forgiven penitent is reconciled with himself in his inmost being, where he regains his innermost truth. He is reconciled with his brethren whom he has in some way offended and wounded. He is reconciled with the Church. He is reconciled with all creation.78
1470 In this sacrament, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God, anticipates in a certain way the judgment to which he will be subjected at the end of his earthly life. For it is now, in this life, that we are offered the choice between life and death, and it is only by the road of conversion that we can enter the Kingdom, from which one is excluded by grave sin.79 In converting to Christ through penance and faith, the sinner passes from death to life and "does not come into judgment."80

The answer is “Yes” and “No.” Yes, because from the above we can see that because of the restorative nature of Confession, we’re united again to the grace of God, which is always helpful to avoid sin. No, in so far as we have free will to sin again.

Bottom line: Frequent, sincere Confession will reduce the frequency of committing sin in the long run, but only if the penitent lives out their resolve to not sin again which they expressed during the Sacrament.
 
Based on mystical accounts: yes, the Sacrament of Reconciliation will literally impart grace to assist you from falling into sin. It is - of course - not a magic spell though. Grace requires an ongoing cooperation between the creature and the Creator.

As far as “confessing the same sins over and over”, yeah, this is tough, and this is something connected with our self-love, which is the #1 obstacle for anybody. We like to look good to ourselves and others. I’m pretty meticulous when confessing venial sins and I can’t remember the last Confession that didn’t involve confessing procrastination. I remember something an old Confessor of mine said when I was living elsewhere, which is that we are around ourselves constantly everyday, so it’s difficult to recognize the changes in ourselves without regular examination. But, for example, if you met an old friend after not seeing them for several years, you might easily notice how they’ve changed in certain ways. So a person might be making more progress than they realize.

But, another thing might be that a most or all progress is going to involve active lifestyle changes, not simply doing better at not sinning, which is only the beginning stage. For example, a person might confess certain sins over and over, and yet they choose to continue to have close friendship with somebody that is objectively a bad influence on their life, and time and time again, that person pulls them down rather than the other way around. For the sake of polity, and without taking certain difficult steps (that is just one example), a person might very well not be going anywhere interiorly.
 
Thanks. This is helpful. It’s hard to beat the CCC much of the time.
 
Examination of conscience daily could be included in the graces given when it is thorough and heartfelt also?
 
JamalChristophr said:
I am probably not the only person that is reluctant to go to confession because it seems to be having to confess the same sins over and over and not getting better which is rather discouraging.
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Every morning I wake up, and get out of bed hungry.
Every day I have to eat, and every night I have to sleep. But the next day I’m hungry again and have to eat some more. The next night I’m tired again and have to sleep some more.
The fact that I’m never free of the need to eat and sleep doesn’t mean that eating and sleeping are futile or useless things to do.
The fact that I have to keep going back to Confession, often with the same sins, doesn’t mean Confession is futile.
 
JamalChristophr said:
When I confess particular sins, does Confession impart grace to not commit those sins any longer?
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Yes. God gives us special graces to combat the sins we most often fall into when we bring them to Him and sincerely confess them to the priest in sacramental confession. This is why frequent sacramental confession is so vital particularly with respect to overcoming habitual sins.
 
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No problem. It was a good question. A lot of good things to think about.
 
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