Does the devil only want us in hell or does he settle for purgatory?

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I think purgatory is a defeat for the devil. So why does he spend so much time tempting us to less serious sins? Is it so we despair?
 
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Purgatory is there to purify souls. The souls there are aptly named “Holy Souls”. They are being prepared for glory in Heaven.

The Adversary tempts us to sin because that is his nature: to attempt to humiliate God by causing his creation to fall. He can’t “get” at God, so he attacks us.
 
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If your goal is to go to Purgatory, you may not get there!

Your goal as a human being is not just to ration out your sins in order to.avoid condemnation, but to achieve everlasting life, including divinization (!) in a spiritual body! That’s a high goal and can’t be approached while clinging to favorite sins.

ICXC NIKA
 
My goal is to get to heaven! It just seems that the devil works very hard to get us to commit venial sins.
 
Satan’s goal is the complete ruination of souls, and only eternity in hell can produce that result. To separate the soul for all eternity from the Beatific Vision is Lucifer’s goal. Purgatory is a purging of the soul before it enters Heaven, so this by no means ruins the soul. All souls in purgatory will see Heaven - they are already victorious over hell and satan. His tactics may be to tempt us in small sins so that we eventually commit the mortal sins that damn us.
 
The bad angles know they can’t humiliate God. They can steal souls away because God gave us a free will.
 
The more little sins you do, the more likely you are to start committing bigger sins and then really big sins.
Most people don’t go from sin-free to huge mortal sin in like 24 hours. They slide there gradually by committing a lot of small sins and developing bad habits.
 
Habitual minor-sinners also develop the habit of non-confession. This makes it more likely that they will defer confession for the grave sin that finally trips them up, possibly (God forbid) until they can no longer breathe to confess.

ICXC NIKA
 
I believe that he starts at the periphery and works his way inward once he gains a foothold. For example, little things, like distracting you when you’re praying, in the hopes you’ll get tired of fighting and just stop praying. Injecting doubts into your thoughts. It’s like death from a thousand tiny cuts. So, no, I don’t think purgatory is his goal. While a ton of venial sin can cause a long stay in purgatory, the poor soul is still ultimately saved. The devil does not want that at all.

How about the analogy of the lobster in a pot of room temperature water that is slowly brought up to boiling? At some point it feels pleasurable. The end, however must be excruciating. That can be like the progression from venial to mortal sin, to hell.
 
Yes, in a sense I feel like the lobster sometimes. Funny, I just got back from what I will call blue light treatment at my dermatologist to get rid of pre cancer stuff on my face. Where you sit for 16 minutes under a hood of blue lights that “burn” off the things that may turn into cancer. It burned like hell but did get better as time passes so slowly. Never got comfortable until the attendance washed my face with cold water.

I wish I would have avoided the sun when I was younger but certainly do not desire cancer now.
 
Purgatory would be defeat for the Devil. What he wants is for the person to be condemned to Hell. Maybe that is why he pushed Judas to despair and to hang himself, so that there would be no chance for repentance. Whether it worked or not, we do not know.
 
Satan wants to damage souls,the only way to do that is through hell. Since purgatory will purify a soul so it can get to heaven, the devil does not want this. That would mean the souls in Purgatory are victorious over hell.
 
I thought it was that the more venial sins you choose to do, the more likely you might be to commit a mortal sin?
 
PatK63 said:
So why does he spend so much time tempting us to less serious sins? Is it so we despair?
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The devil would certainly like to tempt us to all the most serious sins that we could possibly commit. If permitted, he would certainly afflict us with constant and horrifying abuse, never giving a moment of rest or peace.

He does not, and can not, do these things, because God does not allow it. God permits temptation as a way for us to strive for greater virtue and purity of heart, but He will not allow the devil to suddenly overwhelm us with something that impossible for us to overcome.
 
You cannot “aim for purgatory.” It is not a place - it is a state of purification for those judged “worthy” of heaven. The devil tempts even to venial sin as sin is cancer of the soul. Left untreated by confession/absolution, it grows and metastases into mortal sin through repetition of venial sin > leading to a certain numbness; a lack of awareness of sin.
 
It is not my experience that venial sins lead to mortal sins. For me being aware of my venial sins drives me to repentance. I see mortal sins of a different character. How does one fully consent to offending God and knowing that act will cut yourself from God? Now, I realize many Here think that mortal sins are plentiful and as easy to commit as turning over to go back to sleep and missing mass. Sorry in takes more intellectual involvement than that for a mortal sin. I don’t believe mice grow to be rats! Mortal sins come from acts that are deliberate with full knowledge and will to offend God.
 
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You have a strong sense of sin. That is a grace and is very admirable.

As to missing mass, I am a morning person in that I love to sleep in the morning! The Lord is the only one I will spring out of bed for!
 
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