How to fight temptation?

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AHelpingHand

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Hi. I was wondering about fighting temptation. The temptations I mean are the ones that deal with slothfulness and slothfulness that leads to lust. I struggle with slothfulness, and that is what leads me to sin because I don’t stop myself; I know it’s wrong, but I’m not strong enough to fight it. Any prayers, saints, and other things that could help?

Thank you.
 
Easy! Go before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and plead for grace. Really.
After that, be as patient with Him as He has been with you.

When you receive your consoling grace, you will be changed.
 
I just came home,looked around the kitchen and thought what stands out the most,in need of doing :thinking:And decided to open a tin of paint to freshen the pantry ,hearth and kitchen sink cupboards…
The spin off from that is to tidy the whole house and keep it that way.
Imagine you’re going to have visitors over that you really respect (even plan for it)
Be ready for them,and be ready for Jesus in your thoughts and actions.
Maybe you can offer up each chore for a particular intention too ? :pray:t2:
 
AHelpingHand said:
slothfulness and slothfulness that leads to lust
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I’m not sure what you mean here. Being “lazy” is not usually a gateway to “lust”. Is “slothfulness” ruining your life? As far as I’m concerned so long as you are meeting you obligations in life and taking care of yourself, I wouldn’t be too worried about your moral standing.
 
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** The 7 Deadly Sins with the 7 Lively Virtues

People have heard of and can recall the seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices and cardinal sins. But, so often we cannot name the virtues which help us overcome these sins! Rather than focusing on the sins which bog down our spiritual life, turn your eyes to the virtues which can help break the bonds of sin. The Catholic Church has distinctive categories of virtues. The 7 heavenly virtues, also called the Capital virtues, contrary virtues, heavenly virtues, are the virtues which overcome the 7 deadly sins: lust, greed, envy, anger, pride, and sloth.

Chastity overcomes the sin of lust. Everyone could use more chastity in a world that is constantly displaying sexual images. The Catholic Bible tells us that our bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit. The virtue of Chastity can help calm our lustful desire for sexual acts and restrain our wandering eyes.

Generosity overcomes the sin of greed. Our lives can be filled with a yearning for material goods. Material objects can block our vision of Christ who told us to give to the poor. This means not only do we give what we have in “excess” but to surrender all of our time, money, and spiritual gifts to those in need.

Temperance overcomes the sin of gluttony. Gluttony wants us to give into our self gratification for eating and drinking, among other things. Temperance is our ability to control ourselves and these desires. We may fall into the trap of self indulgence but during these times we can call upon the virtue of moderation.

Kindness overcomes the sin of envy. Our love for someone should be without bias or spite. God blesses each of us in different ways. Envy will cause a rift in your relationship with God and others. Look upon your life with positivity rather than counting the ways God “hasn’t” blessed you.

Meekness overcomes the sin of anger. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the world”. When He was confronted by angry crowds who wanted to torture and kill him, he prayed for them. How often do we become upset and consumed by trivial matters? Use Christ as your model, control your anger and resentment and cultivate patience through this virtue.

Humility overcomes the sin of pride. God humbles the proud and exalts the humble! Pride is the devil’s sin, and just like him Satan wants us to hold ourselves up as gods. Everything we have is from God, and everything we do is derived from the gifts he has given us. By being modest we can turn outwards and lift up those around us.

Diligence overcomes the sin of sloth. The virtue of diligence aids us in fulfilling our duties and cultivating a strong work ethic. Sloth draws us in to be lazy in all aspects of our life, physical and spiritual. We should develop our talents and gifts rather than keeping them wrapped up in sloth

All other sins stem from 1 or more of these deadly sins. By praying for these 7 heavenly virtues we can keep each of these sins from creeping into our lives. Start praying for these virtues daily to help defeat Satan and these vices. Swap out your 7 deadly sins for these 7 heavenly virtues!**
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What I meant is slothfulness to praying and slothfulness that keeps me from fighting lustful thoughts and attractions.
 
Scripture tells us to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against temptation.

Start at verse 11 http://www.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/6

We combat vices by working on the opposite virtue.


The opposite of sloth is the virtue of diligence.

Here is a good article from our hosts here at Catholic Answers:

www.catholic.com

The Sin of Sloth

Sure, sloth is captured in the image of the guy on the couch doing nothing. But did you know that the workaholic is also a slothful man?
www.catholic.com www.catholic.com
 
AHelpingHand said:
Hi. I was wondering about fighting temptation. The temptations I mean are the ones that deal with slothfulness and slothfulness that leads to lust. I struggle with slothfulness, and that is what leads me to sin because I don’t stop myself; I know it’s wrong, but I’m not strong enough to fight it. Any prayers, saints, and other things that could help?

Thank you.
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You fight sloth by fighting it. And this is the answer that sloth does not like.
Virtue is the practice of the thing in question. It’s a battle, and the battle is won by fighting it. Sloth detracts from our agency. Agency is the free choosing and acting by a person according to God’s will. Sloth, lust, and the like, cloud our ability to reason and our ability to choose and act rightly. We are not truly free then, but rather enslaved to the passions and desires of the moment.

You recover your agency one excruciating step at a time, one small decision at a time.
Do you linger in bed after the alarm rings in the morning (I’m just guessing…)? Make the decision to get out of bed according to your Godly plan. As you make good decisions one by one, you will recover your agency slowly. You may not have an immediate handle on lust for instance, but if you intentionally make the small right decisions, as you are able, your will is sharpened.

I know prayers and devotions are an integral and necessary part of the Christian life, but they are not magic grace. The practice of virtue is a human response to grace. And without that work you will likely not experience grace.

Hang with it brother. It’s a lifetime battle. Be patient.
Sirach 2
When you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials
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OK, are you then worried about not praying the Liturgy of the Hours (🙃), before bed, at each meal, forgetting a rosary, or what? What are we defining as lust? I watch porn 24 hours per day? I can’t walk past a girl?

Part of this can be scruples or maybe it is a really destructive behavior. Consider too that maybe stressing over this might be a form or part of “slothfulness”.
 
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PJH_74 said:
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AHelpingHand:
slothfulness and slothfulness that leads to lust
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I’m not sure what you mean here. Being “lazy” is not usually a gateway to “lust”. Is “slothfulness” ruining your life? As far as I’m concerned so long as you are meeting you obligations in life and taking care of yourself, I wouldn’t be too worried about your moral standing.
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Disagree. Laziness and sloth are perhaps the key gateway to lust and the habituation of it. All the vices work together, but when we are talking about a blunted ability to choose and act, sloth is key.
 
By lust, I mean entertaining a thought of lust in my mind, or entertaining thoughts of committing sins of impurity. They happen all the time, but they usually occur at moments of quietness (like bedtime or an hour with Jesus). When they happen, I know they’re wrong, but I’m tired and don’t feel like fighting it. Sometimes, I don’t have then strength to fight it. I might entertain a thought, and then right after, another one pops in and I’m suddenly back to reality and tell myself to stop. I sin they I fight the temptation. I want to fight both temptations. That’s why I go to Confession regularly. I’m seeking a counselor on ways to calm down and recognize scruples vs. sins.
 
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Every time you begin to lust after a person, pray “Thank you, God, for this man/woman. Thank you for their life, may you bless them and their family.” Do it every single time.
 
Ok, I’ll do my best. I recall having done this once, though. When I was doing it, I kept thinking about the person in the wrong manner. I should still give it time, right?
 
When you re-orient your mind to prayer, eventually prayer will become the habit instead of the lustful thoughts.
 
I confess my slothful ways and tell myself to plan out my days. Particularly, my days off where I tend to fall into slothfulness. I would also recommend studying the difference between vegging out and true leisure. Living a structured and ordered life is a great way to avoid all sin.
 
AHelpingHand said:
Hi. I was wondering about fighting temptation. The temptations I mean are the ones that deal with slothfulness and slothfulness that leads to lust. I struggle with slothfulness, and that is what leads me to sin because I don’t stop myself; I know it’s wrong, but I’m not strong enough to fight it. Any prayers, saints, and other things that could help?

Thank you.
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Cooperation with grace. If you have an established bad habit, then it may be occurring involuntarily. The will should be maintained against it, even when it occurs involuntarily.
 
One way to fight temptation is to pray.

The problem is, if you are being tempted, sometimes you don’t feel like praying, or praying to avoid a sin only seems to cause more of a struggle than a solution.

Our Catechism tells us: “To pray, one must have the will to pray.”

So, what I do is to say the simplest and purest of prayers, by simply telling God, “Lord, I am praying to pray”.

I call it the purest of prayers because it doesn’t say “Lord, help me fight this temptation XYZ”, which would only remind me of XYZ. Thus giving the temptation any credit or power at all.

“Praying to Pray” is prayer for the sake of itself, and the intention couldn’t be purer.

It usually starts out gradually (around 30 seconds), but it is enough to set the rest of any prayerwork I need to do in motion. The Spirit takes it from there.
 
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