Should you confess a sin you thought about committing?

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leigh2015

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Hi all,

Long story short, there have been a few times I have been really tempted to commit a certain sin and thought about committing it, but never went through with it. Is this something I should confess or no? I’m afraid if I start confessing like this it’ll spiral out of control and just cause me greater stress than I already have regarding confession and ultimately determining what is and isn’t a sin.

Thank you for any advice you can give.
 
leigh2015 said:
Hi all,

Long story short, there have been a few times I have been really tempted to commit a certain sin and thought about committing it, but never went through with it. Is this something I should confess or no? I’m afraid if I start confessing like this it’ll spiral out of control and just cause me greater stress than I already have regarding confession and ultimately determining what is and isn’t a sin.

Thank you for any advice you can give.
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You might want to confess it if you have been purposefully thinking about it or if it has been tormenting you just so you can get some advice. Otherwise if it is just a temptation that keeps reappearing you don’t need to confess it. It’s not your fault you are tempted–it’s only your fault if you give in or play with the temptation enough that you put yourself in harm’s way on purpose. That’s my thinking, anyway.
 
leigh2015 said:
Hi all,

Long story short, there have been a few times I have been really tempted to commit a certain sin and thought about committing it, but never went through with it. Is this something I should confess or no? I’m afraid if I start confessing like this it’ll spiral out of control and just cause me greater stress than I already have regarding confession and ultimately determining what is and isn’t a sin.

Thank you for any advice you can give.
Click to expand...
I remember my priest at my RCIA parish telling me when reviewing confession: “You’d be surprised how often people confess acts of virtue in the confessional”.

I think this would be one of those instances.
 
leigh2015 said:
Hi all,

Long story short, there have been a few times I have been really tempted to commit a certain sin and thought about committing it, but never went through with it. Is this something I should confess or no? I’m afraid if I start confessing like this it’ll spiral out of control and just cause me greater stress than I already have regarding confession and ultimately determining what is and isn’t a sin.

Thank you for any advice you can give.
Click to expand...
Other than a temptation to sin, which may occur often, there is actually intending to sin, that is, making plans to commit a mortal sin, the sin is then accomplished in the will to achieve it, or the *will *to not avoid a near occasion.

Note that the ten commandments are grouped. The latter two are based on sinful thoughts and desires entertained, that can lead to sinful acts.
  • Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
  • Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.
 
If you are spending time thinking about
committing the sin, when you should be
thinking about loving God and neighbor
then yes, confess it and move on.
Jesus warns us not to be “weighed down”
with “dissipation” Luke 21:34. So confess
everything that hinders you from seeking
God’s kingdom and you will be alright.
 
A temptation is not a sin so a mere temptation doesn’t have to be confessed. Of in your mind you indulge in the temptation then it becomes a sin (even if you don’t commit the act) and it needs confession. For example you feel tempted that you want to hurt someone and in your mind you start thinking hateful thoughts against that person and how much you would enjoy beating that person up. Even if you don’t touch the person you have sinned in your mind and needs confession. On the other hand if you feel a temptation but you reject same in your mind is not a sin. Using the same example. If you feel a temptation - something is causing you to bebtempted to het extremely angry at someone but immediately in your mind you think noooo that is not right I reject this temptation, and I have to be charitable and I refuse those thoughts, then it is just a mere temptation that you are rejecting and is not a sin.
 
Are there ‘sins of thought’? Yes. And not only in say planning or intending to do an external sin. But just because as thought “happens to one” does not mean that one has sinned. All sorts of temptations and thoughts can occur out of the blue to us.

For mortal sin there needs to be not only grave matter but also full knowledge and complete consent.

And remember too that if there was say partial consent - that is not full consent. Thus not mortal sin.

I would not dwell on the question of did I sin in that thought too much for such can bring back the temptation. Your confessor can assist you.

To quote Jimmy Akins (of Catholic Answers fame) formulation regarding thoughts:

"For a sin of thought to be mortal, three conditions must be met: (1) the thought must involve grave matter (like inflicting grave harm on someone else), (2) you have to know that the thought is gravely sinful, and (3) you have to deliberately endorse the thought (as opposed to having it flit through your mind and you resist it).

Many people scruple unnecessarily about sins of thought and are too hard on themselves. Frequently they confuse temptation with sinning. Having a thought and feeling a pull toward the thought is just temptation. It only crosses the line into sin when you deliberately endorse the thought."
 
Ok so the mere temptation doesn’t have to be confessed unless you indulge in the thought, but what if you are unsure you consented to the thought? There are a lot of times that a thought will cross my mind and I’ll try to make it go away, but doing so only seems to make it worse so I don’t intend to entertain the thought but I’ll try to just let it pass on its own.

Thank you all for your responses! I need all the help I can get when it comes to this.
 
leigh2015 said:
Ok so the mere temptation doesn’t have to be confessed unless you indulge in the thought, but what if you are unsure you consented to the thought? There are a lot of times that a thought will cross my mind and I’ll try to make it go away, but doing so only seems to make it worse so I don’t intend to entertain the thought but I’ll try to just let it pass on its own.

Thank you all for your responses! I need all the help I can get when it comes to this.
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If it is a sin you would know if you consented to it. It would be pretty obvious. Entertaining it by accident or entertaining it by trying to make it go away mean it can’t be a sin. Think of it as an annoying neighbor: if you invite it into your house and serve it cake and tea, it is a sin, but if you just keep getting up to answer the door and then close it when you realize who it is, it isn’t. Even if you happen to stand there at the door a while and just stare in confusion, annoyance, or distraction it isn’t a sin. You have to actually greet it and invite it to hang out! 🙂
 
leigh2015 said:
Ok so the mere temptation doesn’t have to be confessed unless you indulge in the thought, but what if you are unsure you consented to the thought? There are a lot of times that a thought will cross my mind and I’ll try to make it go away, but doing so only seems to make it worse so I don’t intend to entertain the thought but I’ll try to just let it pass on its own.

Thank you all for your responses! I need all the help I can get when it comes to this.
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(to re post another older post of mine)

All sorts of thoughts can happen to us out of the blue…

The fact that a though happened to one- does not mean per se there was any sin.

And for mortal sin one needs grave matter, full knowledge and deliberate (complete) consent…
Now…

For the next few moments --try real hard NOT to think of an Apple.

then scroll down.

What did you think of?

An apple.

Even though your will was against it -you did not want to think of an apple.

Now back to unwanted thoughts…

The best thing to do with such thoughts is not to fight them directly --not fear that they will come—simply do not consent and simply and calmly turn to something else…(or it may be best to keep doing the good thing one is doing…like they come out of the blue when your at work …keep working…keep praying …etc)

(one can gently - conversi ad Dominum - turn towards the Lord -perhaps with a look of love or a short prayer which is a very ancient practice - pm me if you if you need more).

Ignore such unwanted thoughts like one would ignore a hissing goose or a barking dog. One does not stop to argue with a hissing goose or a barking dog does one? No one keeps on walking…

(as noted above the image there comes from a Carthusian Monk from centuries ago…)
 
Just remember that Jesus was tempted, and was tempted during a time of the stress of fasting for forty days, yet despite this persistent temptation (Satan was extremely persistent here) he resisted the temptation.

He shows us here that temptation, even recurring temptation is not a sin because Jesus never sinned. He never gave into the temptation, as difficult as it must have been for his human nature.

So think of this when you have doubts about temptation. Not sinful unless you purposely dwell on them or yield to them. And God an His angels stand by ready to help you.
 
Thank you all! Everything you said was really helpful and I’m sure it’ll help me work through this eventually.
 
leigh2015 said:
Hi all,

Long story short, there have been a few times I have been really tempted to commit a certain sin and thought about committing it, but never went through with it. Is this something I should confess or no? I’m afraid if I start confessing like this it’ll spiral out of control and just cause me greater stress than I already have regarding confession and ultimately determining what is and isn’t a sin.

Thank you for any advice you can give.
Click to expand...
If you’re not scrupulous, there is no harm in confessing strong temptations (especially those against the 6th and 9th commandment). In fact absolution will give you the grace to not give in to the temptation. If it’s of demonic origin, confessing it is an act of humility, which the devil hates, and will usually make the temptation go away for awhile.
 
So if you do confess temptations, are you admitting something you struggle with or by confessing it are you considering it a ‘sin’ in your confession?
 
I would say confess it, primarily so the priest has an opportunity to give you some advice to help you to not have these temptations anymore.
 
leigh2015 said:
So if you do confess temptations, are you admitting something you struggle with or by confessing it are you considering it a ‘sin’ in your confession?
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Deo_Gratias42 said:
If you’re not scrupulous, there is no harm in confessing strong temptations (especially those against the 6th and 9th commandment). In fact absolution will give you the grace to not give in to the temptation. If it’s of demonic origin, confessing it is an act of humility, which the devil hates, and will usually make the temptation go away for awhile.
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One can discuss temptations in confession.

But temptations are NOT matter for confession.

Now it can be the case that there were say some venial sins where one did not give complete consent. That can be matter that can be confessed. But if it is only a temptation it is not matter that is confessed.
 
Bookcat said:
One can discuss temptations in confession.

But temptations are NOT matter for confession.

Now it can be the case that there were say some venial sins where one did not give complete consent. That can be matter that can be confessed. But if it is only a temptation it is not matter that is confessed.
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As long as the person confesses one sin there is sufficient matter for absolution.
 
leigh2015 said:
Hi all,

Long story short, there have been a few times I have been really tempted to commit a certain sin and thought about committing it, but never went through with it. Is this something I should confess or no? I’m afraid if I start confessing like this it’ll spiral out of control and just cause me greater stress than I already have regarding confession and ultimately determining what is and isn’t a sin.

Thank you for any advice you can give.
Click to expand...
If you did not resist the thoughts of doing a gravely sinful thing, then it should be confessed.
 
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