Is honesty the first step in avoiding sin

[PelagiathePenit]

I know some people who are completely honest. Of course they are still sinners. It seems like they sin less or get less tangled up in pettiness. One of my former friends - it was difficult to find any real fault in her except for being too harsh sometimes, bossy, know-it-all and immature. Other than that, she was a good person.

 

[LaetenturCaeli]

I’m a fairly honest person. It’s been an incredibly long time since I did much more than unintentionally or half-intentionally tell a white lie. I’m actually a bit obsessive about being completely honest since, before my conversion, I was a pathological liar.

But I can assure you that I’ve got dozens of other faults and struggle against lots and lots of other sins, a few of them even mortal.

The first step to avoiding sin is to consistently grow in love for God, I think.

 

[TruthSeeker319]

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” James 5:16

Maybe? We shouldn’t be ashamed to admit we are sinners. Sometimes it helps to tell others our sins if it helps us keep away from them.

 

[MaryT777]

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” James 5:16

Maybe? We shouldn’t be ashamed to admit we are sinners. Sometimes it helps to tell others our sins if it helps us keep away from them.

Well said.

Mary.

 

[Catholic1954]

I know some people who are completely honest. Of course they are still sinners. It seems like they sin less or get less tangled up in pettiness. One of my former friends - it was difficult to find any real fault in her except for being too harsh sometimes, bossy, know-it-all and immature. Other than that, she was a good person.

The other “H” word is really the first step in avoiding sin: Humility. It leads to all the other virtues.

 

[ChurchSoldier]

I think honesty towards self in the form of acknowledgement is the first step.

 

[powerofk]

The other “H” word is really the first step in avoiding sin: Humility. It leads to all the other virtues.

This. But make sure it’s true humility. Humility, by the way, and being honest with yourself go hand in hand (by the way, if you’re honest with yourself, it’s quite difficult to be dishonest with others). True humility is understanding your faults and allowing the Trinitarian God to take you, faults and all, and make you strong in Him. A humble person knows what their faults are, is honest with him/herself when he/she sins, and yet understands that God loves him/her anyway and wants to genuinely allow God to work His will through him/her.

Because, remember, as sinful and as destructive as hubric pride can be, scrupulosity is just as bad, as it is paralyzing. A prideful person doesn’t think he/she needs God. A scrupulous person doesn’t believe that it is possible for God to love him/her. In other words, a prideful person doesn’t think he/she needs God’s mercy. A scrupulous person thinks that God’s mercy isn’t strong enough to save him/her.

Regardless, though - the key to humility is to make good examinations of conscience followed by good confessions. For the most part, this is what most of us need. If, however, you start falling into scrupulosity (and by this, I mean, you think just about everything you do is a mortal sin), a good confessor is needed to help you discern which of your actions are actually sinful and which ones are not.