Right.no, that wouldn’t be a good thing, if they are sinful thoughts. just do the best you can to ignore them and think about other things. if you’re not consciously trying to keep them and entertain them, you’re not sinning. always good to bring it up to your confessor.
i ask because i struggle with the same thing. my pastor told me it is not wrong to appreciate beauty in all it’s forms. i don’t think he new the exact cutoff point either, the thoughts that come into my head when i see a beautiful woman are disgusting and terrifying. i do my best to look away as quickly as possible, pray for restraint, and think about other things. the worst is in church when young women dress inappropriately and they are half naked right in front of us. very distracting to proper worship. i just don’t know when looking and thinking becomes lusting.Right.
Choice is key. Misusing free will.
Actually it is.I see an attractive woman. I notice and appreciate her beauty. A natural desire to (in)-appropriate her beauty for my own pleasure arises in me. No sin yet. Nature has designed us for a certain amount of this.
While knowing that a desire to (in)-appropriate her is arising in me, I make a choice to give custody of my eyes to lust. Sinful. I entertain thoughts. Sinful.
Even though no “action” has taken place, I have truly acted on lust.
I enjoy her beauty in a way that is dis-ordered. I knew, I chose, I acted. Is it mortal? No, the matter in this case is not grave.
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Morally speaking - yes it is best not to seek to attack such thoughts head on - best not to “try not to have them real hard” - for such can yes make them worse.One thing that puzzles me is what consent really is.
Is it allowing the thought to remain in your mind without purposefully changing your thoughts or is it enjoyment or agreement with the thought.
I get continual intrusive thoughts (some of which I think myself), and seem to spend the day trying to refocus my thoughts. The problem with this is that it actually makes intrusive thoughts worse as the more you try to get rid of them the worse they get.
If one is scrupulous, it is actually better to not confess sins which are doubtful, I believe. Additionally, one should receive the Eucharist unless he can SWEAR ON THE BIBLE that he has commited a mortal sin.I thought I read somewhere that if you decide to commit a mortal sin in your mind, that like you are saying, it’s a mortal sin that you committed with your thoughts.
Jesus showed us it’s possible to commit mortal sins in our thoughts, ‘He who hates his brother is liable for the judgement of hell.’ ‘he who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart .’ (Even deliberate impure imaginings like this are mortal sin, it’s adultery in the heart).
I myself would confess it first to be certain. And not ever think of liking to commit a mortal sin.
You need to have a regular confessor to direct you - that is the age old practice with scruples. And the kind of thoughts you just now described (unwanted thoughts that are offensive in relation to anything religious) are one example that is discussed regarding scruples for hundreds of years…I mean hundreds…Thank you all for your replies.
I have spoken to several priests who have told me that these thoughts are not mortal sins. However, it is impossible for anyone to fully know as the level of consent for each thought is different. They are not impure thoughts relating to lust, but rather crude and offensive thoughts in relation to anything religious. The reason I always worry about consent is I first seem to know that I might think a bad thought, and then I actually do, so there is some level of consent.
Most of the sins I commit seem to be doubtful mortal sins - in most cases very doubtful. However I have not been receiving communion because of this.