Forgiving sin and continual sins

[billcu1]

This has been brought up in the forums before. About not forgiving moral sin. Sometimes someone can intend to not sin again and they are addicted especially to sins of the flesh. I was told by a priest that when you go for absolution you receive graces each time to help. Sometimes a person has to work out in time issues and they have “knots” or “mountains” in their life, especially with fleshly sin. Mary’s faith certainly helps. There are few of us that could do it. You can receive absolution even if in “attrition”, which isn’t perfect contrition. When you are sinless you are going to be a target make no mistake. St. Vianney was drug out of bed and god allowed it because he knew St. Vianney could handle it. Even when forgiving sin 18 hours a day every day.

 

[Kima]

I believe that you should intend to try not to fall into the sin again - even if it happens.
I guess what really counts is you wanting to stop committing the sin and working towards it. God knows you more than we can imagine and He knows whether our intentions are good or not.

Saints aren`t perfect as well, it´s simply that they have the courage of not giving up. Recieve the grace of our Lord and work towards your goal. Whenever you fail to do so, seek forgiveness.

I remember a priest telling me in Confession to look up to Mary even though I´m not as holy as her. So if what you say is your case, you are definitely in good company!

Edit: I also, at a lot of times attend Confession as a result of committing habitual sins as well - and I guess it´s nothing wrong with it as long as we seek to become better and want repentence.

 

[LittleFlower378]

Yes, the key is in the confessional to be sorry and will not to commit the sin again.

 

[Gabika50]

Absolutely!!! An old spiritual director of mine said “to err is human, to persevere is dibaolical!”

 

[YourNameHere]

We confess our sins. We show remorse. We are given penance. We make an act of contrition. We receive absolution. We vow to amend our lives. We try our best not to sin. But when we do, we go back to confession. We try. That is all we can do.

 

[rakovskii]

Sometimes a person has to work out in time issues and they have “knots” or “mountains” in their life, especially with fleshly sin.

I know what you mean, billcu1. I think that there are people who have mental issues, like anger management problems, that make it harder for them to get over their immoral habits (like yelling at people). But it’s important that they at least try. It’s like getting up after falling down.
Let me raise an issue about this. On one hand, in the gospels, Jesus says to forgive one’s neighbor seventy times seven for their sins. On the other hand, in the 1st-2nd century writing Shepherd of Hermas, by Hermas of Rome, it is said that a person can’t succeed in repenting and being forgiven more than once for the same habit of sinning after they became Christian. To some modern writers, the Shepherd of Hermas sounds like it is teaching the heresy of “Donatism”. I made a forum thread asking about it here:
Two Questions about the Shepherd of Hermas

 

[billcu1]

I have also been told to pray. Pray without ceasing. I am learning this is very important. I have prayed several good prayers. but for some reason, including effectiveness, I always come back to the Rosary.

 

[TK421]

Sins of the flesh have finite power just like any other sin. The secular world is in an exceedingly confused state of mind and you might say suffering from a large scale form of multi-personality disorder: it has adopted (rightfully) a seemingly Puritanical attitude towards sex when it comes to harassment or abuse and has no tolerance for it, but in other areas, it expresses extreme tolerance and finds any kind of continence or control to be unnatural and even frightening, because it sees sex as a basic need on nearly the same level as food or water. Yet with this pathetic and untrue viewpoint, it is hard not to see harassment as inevitable.

Sex is not a basic need. It is not infinitely powerful. It is something that can be disciplined and channeled and properly ordered just like any other impulse. With so many people refusing to try in the first place, it’s no wonder that we are where we are.

Prayer. Sacraments. Fasting. Spiritual Reading. Love. Service. Divine Grace. Sin is not inevitable. Love is greater, higher, and stronger.

 

[billcu1]

Oh yes as you say, Love is greater. The world has no idea what love is. Love doesn’t “pick and choose” who it is to be express toward. Yes sin leaves people “confused” or better still, “totally confused”. People do have problems with sex. But it isn’t the “only” fleshly sin. If anything I meant even more so, gluttony. Some people show “love” to some and not to certain others. As we know, that is not love. I call it “feelgoodism”. Like i political circles if you tolerate extremes of this you will be loved if not, you will be hated. And love is of course, unconditional.

Not having a vehicle either makes it kinda hard sometimes for me to get to Mass as I should. We Need that body and blood. Or I think, we will fail.

 

[Bobbyb]

I had it explained to me this way when it came to confessing habitual sin or sin that we have trouble avoiding: Go to confession with as much contrition as you can. You have to be sorry for your sin and promise to avoid its temptation and falling into sin, and even if you are ‘sure’ you’ll commit this sin again because of your weakness in sins of the flesh, because we have no idea if we will die BEFORE we commit our particular sin again. If we had not gone to confession then we would have died with this unconfessed sin.