Is sensuality a sin?

[Timi_Celcer]

I tought of sensuality as a sin because of for example: Mark 7:22, Romans 13:13, Galatians 5:19, 2 Peter 2:2,… I think that those “verses” say that sensuality is a sin. But recently i read here that sensuality isn’t a sin. . Which one is it? And if you think sensuality isn’t a sin that please post some biblical evidence. Thank you

 

[1love]

You might like to read this.

rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2010/04/26/how-can-i-identify-my-root-sin

COMMON MANIFESTATIONS OF SENSUALITY

laziness
always the most comfortable, what requires least effort
not going the extra mile for others
procrastination, last-minute in everything
shoddiness, complaining, excessively affected by minor discomforts
inability to sacrifice
not doing my part at home
expecting everyone else to serve me always
behavior and decisions ruled by my feelings and moods instead of my principles
daydreaming a lot with self at center
unable to control my thoughts when they attract me, even if they are not good
doing only what I enjoy (choice of food, work, etc)
uncontrolled and overpowering curiosity, wanting to see and experience everything and every pleasure
my senses and impulses overrule what I know is right and wrong
acting out my feelings (frustrations, desires…) with no regard for my conscience, God or others
only working with those I like, being easily hurt
fickleness and inconstancy
can never finish what I start

Read more: rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2010/04/26/how-can-i-identify-my-root-sin#ixzz2WUHoMrNO

 

[Beryllos]

… please post some biblical evidence.

Well, for starters, here is one I came across this morning as I was reading:

Psalm 104:14-15 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the earth,
and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine,
and bread to strengthen the human heart.

I’ll try to find more as time permits.

 

[Least]

Great, now I have to use Sensuality in a sentence in the confessional, and vanity, and pride. Sometimes, when I attempt to dig down to the bedrock good in myself, I just wind up with a hole through to the other side.

Thank you for your post 1love, very informative, needed that worse than I knew.

 

[1love]

Great, now I have to use Sensuality in a sentence in the confessional

Haha…I’m sorry, and you’re welcome

Before I read this link, I was trying to put those sins into words without going into ten minutes’ worth of details. I told the priest “I am a gluttony for everything…I want more food, more fun, more sleep.” Based on his advice I know he understood what I was saying, but reading the root sins article from the link was incredibly helpful to me.

 

[lerapt78]

It all depends on the context in which you regard sensuality.

sen·su·al (snsh-l)
adj.

1. Relating to or affecting any of the senses or a sense organ; sensory.

a. Of, relating to, given to, or providing gratification of the physical and especially the sexual appetites. See Synonyms at sensuous.
b. Suggesting sexuality; voluptuous.
c. Physical rather than spiritual or intellectual.
d. Lacking in moral or spiritual interests; worldly.

Using the generic definition (#1), I would consider myself to be a very sensual person. I tend to linger over good meals in order to savor the taste of the food. When I’m in a store, I can’t walk past a rack of candles without stopping and smelling each one. Ditto for perfume counters. I can sit on a museum bench for an hour, fascinated by the colors in an oil painting. I tend to run my hand repeatedly over fabrics that are stimulating to the touch. It’s hard to see sin in this, unless I’m gluttonously overeating, or charging up a credit card to compulsively buy every candle on the shelf.

When it comes to #2 and its subsets however, it’s easier to understand how sensuality can become sinful. I suppose the discerning mind would have to reflect on whether or not sensual pleasure is taken in an immoral act, and whether or not one lingers upon that pleasurable feeling. I would guess that the danger in sensuality lies *not *in simply deriving pleasure from the senses (we’ve been designed to experience this), but in the shameless and devoted pursuit of it, to the exclusion of all else.

 

[Beryllos]

1 Timothy 4:1-5 (New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition)
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.

Paul wrote that we are not justified by asceticism (strict self-denial), but should receive the good things God has created. We should receive them with thanksgiving. The phrase “it is sanctified” I think refers not to the created things themselves, but to the act of receiving them. In other words, when those who believe and know the truth receive with thanksgiving the good things God has created, that act is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.

I think that means we can enjoy a day at the beach, a nice dinner, and other pleasurable things.