When do thoughts become sinful?

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when do our thoughts become sinful? I have this tendency to feel like i always need to go to confession before recieving the eucharist and mostly because I worry that im under some sin by impure thoughts in particular( its so unclear to me). So when do thoughts become sinful. is it only if we act on them? sometimes stuff just jumps into my head for whatever reason or weird dreams and what not I usually can’t recall them in a day or so I just know they have occurred. sometimes I dwell on them a little bit mostly out of curiosity of trying to see how or why I would think it but I usually brush it of and through it out without thought to it. sometimes I guess you could say I begin to indulge in it but I decide its not worth it and realize it never leads to anything good.

Help!
 
With thoughts of impurity, when one dwells on them for the purpose of obtaining pleasure from them. The pleasure may be mental, as opposed to physical.

If you are having problmes with this, then I would suggest that you obtain sopme spiritual direction from a priest. I would not suggest that you are scrupulous, but this can become an issue; and it is a heavy and terrible burden to carry.

God doesn’t play “gotcha!”. Sin is a turning away from God and towards self (selfish). What runs through your head is not sinful if it is not something you are dwelling on for the pleasure of dwelling on it. Stray thoughts are not sinful. Snaring them, tying them down and reveling in them is.

And I suggest that if you are having a problem with this, that you seek spiritual direction; in other words, use the confessional to confess your sins, get in and get out, and seek help at another time. There are people behind you generally who need to go to confession too; if you take the time to try and get spiritual direction rather than absolution, you can be preventing them from being able to confess due to time constraints.
 
newone said:
when do our thoughts become sinful? I have this tendency to feel like i always need to go to confession before recieving the eucharist and mostly because I worry that im under some sin by impure thoughts in particular( its so unclear to me). So when do thoughts become sinful. is it only if we act on them? sometimes stuff just jumps into my head for whatever reason or weird dreams and what not I usually can’t recall them in a day or so I just know they have occurred. sometimes I dwell on them a little bit mostly out of curiosity of trying to see how or why I would think it but I usually brush it of and through it out without thought to it. sometimes I guess you could say I begin to indulge in it but I decide its not worth it and realize it never leads to anything good.

Help!
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Generally when we dwell on them and don’t dismiss them.
 
In my opinion, thoughts become sinful not only when you dwell on them but when you put them into action.
 
A good priest once explained it to me as such

You can’t control who comes knocking at your door, but you can control who you invite in and converse with.

The same is true for thoughts. We cannot control what thoughts come to us. We CAN control if we choose to dwell on them or dismiss them.
 
when in doubt take your thoughts as sinful. thus, an act of contrition becomes valid. the Nazarene taught us that sin of the heart is just or worst than the actual deed itself, for out of the heart comes all, righteous and vile behaviors.

learn to nurture, in the thought, what will ultimately become your reality.
 
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