Some sins do not feel wrong

[royal_archer]

For the most part it seems that sinful acts are acts that I feel would be wrong whether I had any moral training or not. There are other areas where things seem moraly wrong but are not recognized as sins by the church. But the area of concern for me is where I know and accept that something is a sin conciously and intelectually but it does not have the same negative feelings that other sins do.
I have prayed for guidance for many years and I feel I have better insight into some areas but an seeking to better align my heart with God’s will.

I am wondering if this is a case where I just have not prayed enough or if it is a case where if I did not have this difference of feelings, I would essentially not have free will. Thoughts?

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

I am wondering if this is a case where I just have not prayed enough or if it is a case where if I did not have this difference of feelings, I would essentially not have free will. Thoughts?

I do not believe it has to do with praying enough. It might have something to do with trusting enough. Trust is a decision we make with our free will. God didn’t say we would always understand. He did ask us to trust. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were told not to eat of the tree of knowledge. They did not understand what would happen if they ate of that tree only that they were not to eat the fruit. Actually, they could only see the good that would come by eating that fruit. It was good for food and they were told by the snake in the garden that their eyes would be opened - even more “good”. But due to their lack of trust in what God commanded them, they were hurt by their actions even though they couldn’t see it at the time they were making the choice.

 

[Tonks40]

You also have to remind yourself of what sin is - something that separates us from God. If you knew intellectually and spiritually why the actions, behaviors, etc. would be against God’s will, it would help in avoiding doing those actions again.

God is patient. He knows that we do not have full knowledge. Continue in your journey towards discerning God’s will; the efforts will be greatly rewarded.

 

[Starwynd]

Sometimes evil and sin wears a pleasant face, or the face of the innocent… That is the danger of evil and sin, that it can be seductive and pleasant. And the greatest of lies and manipulations always have elements of the truth.

 

[teachccd]

It wouldn’t feel wrong if I removed one plant from my yard right now. But what would my yard look like after ten years of doing that same act every day? Many acts are wrong because we do not see the same big picture that God sees. That is why He is God and we are not…teachccd

 

[teachccd]

Sometimes evil and sin wears a pleasant face, or the face of the innocent… That is the danger of evil and sin, that it can be seductive and pleasant. And the greatest of lies and manipulations always have elements of the truth.

Very, very true…

 

[JudieK]

I think many, many things “feel” right even though they are sins. Think of premarital sex. Nothing in the world feels more right at the time… it’s about love, right? And love is good, right? But the long-term effects of these behaviors is usually bad. God understood that we wouldn’t all be able to discern what is really a sin based just on “feelings,” so he gave us a teaching Church to guide us in our journey through life, and said that what the Church bound on earth would be bound in heaven as well. The Church has made it clear and available to the world what is OK for Catholics to do… and what is considered sinful… in the Catechism. The fact that many Catholics have never once laid eyes on a Catechism, or even know what one is, is sad and a failing of the Church that needs to be fixed. Also- the fact that many Catholics do whatever they want without a care as to what the Church says is also a failing. But nevertheless, if we as individual Catholics WANT to avoid sin, we can’t rely on our feelings. We must learn what the Church teaches and OBEY it. Obedience is key. If we fail sometimes and are truly sorry, we must confess the sin and try harder next time. If we disagree with the Church on what is and what isn’t a sin, it means that WE are not yet to that point spiritually, NOT that the Church is wrong. In that case, we need to obey anyway and pray for the grace to see things more clearly. I hope that helps… Judie

 

[omegabane]

I think St. Thomas Aquinas does an excellent job of talking about this in “On Evil.” He writes, “we speak of evil in two ways… we can understand evil in one way as the subject that is evil, and this subject is an entity. In the second way, we can understand evil itself, and evil so understood is the very privation of a particular good, not an entity.” Aquinas goes on to state that “being and good are convertible terms.” Recall that all that God made is good. The only thing that was not called good in the creation story was the darkness, but darkness was not created, it is just the privation of light.

Therefore, as contrary as it might sound to say it, it is the position of Aquinas, and accepted by the Church, that “evil is in good.”

What follows from this is that whenever we make a choice, it is not that we are specifically choosing evil; rather, all choices are directed to some good that we perceive. These choices become sinful when the good we choose is not the ultimate good. For example, pleasure in and of itself is not sinful. In the sin of lust, we are almost always choosing pleasure because we feel that pleasure is a good. At the same time, though, there are other goods which are greater, so the good we have chosen is in some way deficient. This privation is called evil.

 

[royal_archer]

When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of life they received knowledge of right and wrong. The Holy Spirit guides us. I feel this guidance or instinctive knowledge in many areas of my life and as a result doing the right and moral thing is also the natural thing; to sin would feel wrong. But in other areas avoiding sin is a concious decision. While I choose the path of not sinning it is a choice made purely out of faith in the teachings of the church.

 

[omegabane]

(snip) While I choose the path of not sinning it is a choice made purely out of faith in the teachings of the church.

And for that you are to be commended! If following the way of Christ were always as easy as just doing what felt right, what benefit would there be in that? It is sacrificing those things that we might like to do in favor of those things God wills that gains us true merit. Keep up the good work!

 

[surfinpure]

For the most part it seems that sinful acts are acts that I feel would be wrong whether I had any moral training or not. There are other areas where things seem moraly wrong but are not recognized as sins by the church. But the area of concern for me is where I know and accept that something is a sin conciously and intelectually but it does not have the same negative feelings that other sins do.
I have prayed for guidance for many years and I feel I have better insight into some areas but an seeking to better align my heart with God’s will.

I am wondering if this is a case where I just have not prayed enough or if it is a case where if I did not have this difference of feelings, I would essentially not have free will. Thoughts?

Formation of conscience is the key ingredient that is missing when one begins to avoid only the sins that “feel” wrong. In actuality, many right things feel terrible, and many wrong things feel great. That is why God gave each of us a conscience, and gave us the Church to teach us the moral law.

As Fr. John Corapi would say, you can’t “always let your conscience be your guide.” Because what happens if you have a weak conscience? Or a sick or malformed conscience? Poor formation of conscience leads to a multitude of sins.

 

[royal_archer]

Formation of conscience is the key ingredient that is missing when one begins to avoid only the sins that “feel” wrong. In actuality, many right things feel terrible, and many wrong things feel great. That is why God gave each of us a conscience, and gave us the Church to teach us the moral law.

As Fr. John Corapi would say, you can’t “always let your conscience be your guide.” Because what happens if you have a weak conscience? Or a sick or malformed conscience? Poor formation of conscience leads to a multitude of sins.

I meant feeling wrong in terms of concience, not in terms of pleasure.

 

[LilyM]

I think if all sins ‘felt wrong’ most of us would never sin! We always sin because at some level it ‘feels good’. That’s our concupiscence, our attraction for sin, talking.

 

[surfinpure]

I meant feeling wrong in terms of concience, not in terms of pleasure.

Very well, but the principle still applies: If one’s conscience is poorly formed, then it cannot be relied upon to send the accurate signals of inhibition, can it? There are a good many things I did with pride as a Protestant, because my conscience felt good, that I would now not consider doing as a Catholic, or else harshly violate my conscience.

Contraception and private interpretation of Scripture come first to mind, because to a misinformed conscience they can both be made to look like very good things. Only deeper moral teaching reveals them for the wrongs they are.