Why do devout Catholic people choose to sin?

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It is no surprise to me when people outside of church, those without faith choose to sin. Why do people who are well-knowledgeable about sin and it’s consequences choose to sin? Shouldn’t they be past that at some point in their lives?
There is no excuse for sin, yet devout Christians elect to sin. I understand no one is perfect. I do not understand it though.
 
Depends what you mean by “devout”. Outward observance is one thing, personal holiness another. It is true we should generally sin less as we grow in the faith. But rooting out vices and developing virtue is hard and takes time. Most of us will not reach perfection in this life, ergo purgatory. (That is no excuse for lukewarmness, but it is a reality nonetheless.)

More importantly, knowing that something is wrong isn’t enough. Haven’t you ever done something you knew was wrong? We rely on grace, and sometimes God withholds his assistance, leaving us with certain faults in order to avoid worse ones. For example, a person who cannot overcome an addiction but in humility keeps trying may be holier than the man who has his passions under control but is for that reason full of pride.
 
CRATUS said:
It is no surprise to me when people outside of church, those without faith choose to sin. Why do people who are well-knowledgeable about sin and it’s consequences choose to sin? Shouldn’t they be past that at some point in their lives?
There is no excuse for sin, yet devout Christians elect to sin. I understand no one is perfect. I do not understand it though.
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Read Genesis.
 
In agreement with the poster above, we’re fallen and feeble and can do nothing good of our own accord. That and the Father of Lies is not stupid (besides the obvious stupid decision) and is good at tricking people into doing things they shouldn’t, just as he did in Genesis. We all know sin is stupid but we do it anyway. St. Paul even discusses this in Romans: 13-25. We can only be joyous in the fact that Jesus comes after us no matter how far we try and run from Him and forgives us every time we realize how stupid our actions were.
 
Ad_Orientem said:
Depends what you mean by “devout”. Outward observance is one thing, personal holiness another. It is true we should generally sin less as we grow in the faith. But rooting out vices and developing virtue is hard and takes time. Most of us will not reach perfection in this life, ergo purgatory. (That is no excuse for lukewarmness, but it is a reality nonetheless.)

More importantly, knowing that something is wrong isn’t enough. Haven’t you ever done something you knew was wrong? We rely on grace, and sometimes God withholds his assistance, leaving us with certain faults in order to avoid worse ones. For example, a person who cannot overcome an addiction but in humility keeps trying may be holier than the man who has his passions under control but is for that reason full of pride.
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Yes it does “depend on what you mean by devout”.

I assume those Pharisees and Sadducees we read about in the new testament considered themselves to be devout.
 
Pretty much this. We sin because we are inclined towards sin. We fight sin because we are inclined towards God. When we sin, we pick ourselves up, humble ourselves before God, go to confession, and try again. What separates a truly devout person from someone who is only outwardly “devout” is that the truly devout person acknowledges their sinfulness and strives to overcome it, while the outwardly “devout” person denounces other for their sinfulness while paying no mind to his own interior disposition.

The mark of a Holy man is not that he does not sin, it is that he understands how sinful He is, and strives to grown in God’s grace!
 
CRATUS said:
It is no surprise to me when people outside of church, those without faith choose to sin. Why do people who are well-knowledgeable about sin and it’s consequences choose to sin? Shouldn’t they be past that at some point in their lives?
There is no excuse for sin, yet devout Christians elect to sin. I understand no one is perfect. I do not understand it though.
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The temptation of sin is very strong…Adam & Eve who talked with God, sinned…what about a devout Christian? :confused:

Even Jesus was tempted while He was weak from fasting, and if He wasn’t God, He could have fallen.
 
I am a devout Catholic. And I am a sinner.

My devotion to my faith is because I am a sinner. I would think if I was not a sinner, possibly I would begin to feel as though I didn’t need to be so devout.
 
Reading the OP I was immediately reminded of something that happened when I was new in Ireland. A neighbours adult son had problems re mass because he saw people coming out of church and standing gossiping cruelly about others on the church steps. This is something I have experienced at first hand. I was at mass when there was a beautiful gospel from John. It was a day I was trading at market and a woman followed me and made a very vicious unprovoked verbal attack. on me. It seems as if the faith stops when ,mass ends and the teaching does not affect daily life. Mass is one thing; daily life another. Double standards. I was bewildered frankly.
 
And free will!

The world, the flesh and the Devil.

Depends on the person and the circumstance…and the sin…
 
CRATUS said:
It is no surprise to me when people outside of church, those without faith choose to sin. Why do people who are well-knowledgeable about sin and it’s consequences choose to sin? Shouldn’t they be past that at some point in their lives?
There is no excuse for sin, yet devout Christians elect to sin. I understand no one is perfect. I do not understand it though.
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Are you talking mortal or venial sin?
 
CRATUS said:
It is no surprise to me when people outside of church, those without faith choose to sin. Why do people who are well-knowledgeable about sin and it’s consequences choose to sin? Shouldn’t they be past that at some point in their lives?
There is no excuse for sin, yet devout Christians elect to sin. I understand no one is perfect. I do not understand it though.
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I am choosing to sin at the moment. There is no excuse. I don’t ask people to make excuses for me. There are however reasons for my sin. I would ask people not to condone my sin but understand the reasons. I ask them to because I am confident God does. I do not believe God condones my sin, but understands why it is happening and rather than condemn will run with me on it to guide me to a greater depth of spirituality.

I am in a bad place spiritually right now. God has not left me. I love my God and as a parent loves a child, no matter how much they mess up, fight with them, don’t do as they say, disagree with their council, God will not leave me. He does not think I am right but I believe He willing to run with me and will meet me with open arms when I come out the other side of this bad place.

I am a convert to Catholicism. I really believed but now, I don’t really believe anything except there is a God. I think Jesus was the Incarnate God but I’m not quite as sure as I used to be, but can’t reject this belief. I believe in Baptism and Holy Communion, but not sure what I believe other than it is not just a sign. I tried so hard with my children. I sent them to a Catholic school, took them to Mass, then the priest who catechized me was imprisoned for child abuse. After that, I stopped believing in people. I was brought up JW and I just don’t trust anyone but a few anymore. I stopped going to Mass so my kids don’t go. The heart was knocked out of me and now, truth is I don’t go to Mass because I can’t be bothered. Awful but true. My husband is not Catholic so I have no support.

I firmly belief the unborn are human and abortion is horrendous, but I know what it is to be desperate. I had a really bad time with my health and my marriage was on the brink of divorce. I met someone who was kind and in spite of not having had a period in two years I became pregnant. I was desperate. My husband said if I did not have an abortion our marriage was over, but if I did we would go on as if it never happened. The biological father did not want to know. I couldn’t do it but I know what it is to be desperate. I

In my desperation I phoned a Catholic helpline. Interestingly, the only service of that nature here. I spoke to a lovely woman who said she believe we would be OK. My husband was with me when my son was born. We got back together. It has been hell at times but we are still together. We had another son. My eldest is now 13 and knows the truth. He says he does not want to know his biological father, my husband is his father.

Gay people - I don’t think it is natural but they face such terrible prejudice.

I am telling you this because we are all two people. The reality is good people do bad things and bad people do good things. I am a very good person but I had done bad things I really regret and probably will do again, and at certain times of my life I have been really messed up. Not an excuse - a reason.

Showing mercy does not mean condoning what happened, and understanding why something happened does not mean you condone it. That is mercy.
 
Parisian said:
Are you talking mortal or venial sin?
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As Hilary said, “What difference does it make?”

When you commit a sin you don’t usually say “I can do this because it’s only venial.” Most sins are mortal that anyone likes to commit…drunkenness, porn, cheating on taxes etc.
 
CRATUS said:
It is no surprise to me when people outside of church, those without faith choose to sin. Why do people who are well-knowledgeable about sin and it’s consequences choose to sin? Shouldn’t they be past that at some point in their lives?
There is no excuse for sin, yet devout Christians elect to sin. I understand no one is perfect. I do not understand it though.
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You say you understand that no one is perfect. You also ask why we sin.

If we’re not perfect, it means we sin.

Perhaps I don’t understand the question.
 
Life is very hard. Temptations exist.Sin is an easy hole to fall into.

Not everyone can avoid the hole even if it had massive neon signs around it! I myself have sinned knowing what i was doing!!! The devil is clever and cunning.

Thank Our Lord for Confession!!!
 
Teabag said:
Life is very hard. Temptations exist.Sin is an easy hole to fall into.

Not everyone can avoid the hole even if it had massive neon signs around it! I myself have sinned knowing what i was doing!!! The devil is clever and cunning.

Thank Our Lord for Confession!!!
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You said it Teabag - thank the Lord for confession.

I became a Catholic because of confession. My experience of confession has been good. I can’t say I have always had a wonderful experience of confession. Priests like everyone else are human and have their limitations, and their are times when I have gone to confession I feel it is a bit superficial and the priest does not always get it right, but when you confess to a good confessor it restores your faith, brings you so much closer to God and enables you to make sense of your life and take control of the direction of your life. I once had a great experience of confession and the priest said nothing. Sometimes you just need someone to listen and by talking and the priest simply listening I worked it all out myself.

I believe in confession and I think Protestant denominations are really missing out on the value of this Sacrament. They are argue a priest cannot absolve sin but when you are burdened by sin confronting that sin in a safe environment were the purpose is not to judge but restore you and help you find direction is so valuable. Thank God for this Sacrament. When you have a good confessor you do feel restored spiritually and this is the purpose of confession. The purpose of confession is not for the priest to feel great and have this authority. It is about restoring those burdened by sin and meeting their needs in that restoration. The relief of talking to someone who has heard it all before, who knows human nature and has the insight to see what the person needs and wants,. A person who can put their finger right on what you need no matter how badly you express yourself or how bad it is. What a wonderful Sacrament.
 
truetofaith said:
As Hilary said, “What difference does it make?”

When you commit a sin you don’t usually say “I can do this because it’s only venial.” Most sins are mortal that anyone likes to commit…drunkenness, porn, cheating on taxes etc.
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The sins you list are not the sins I like to commit and I’m sure I speak for many people. If I commit a sin, it is not grave sin and usually accidental.
 
Well, i have committed some grave sins over the last year or so and continue to do so. I am not proud of it and i am trying to put an end to it. I am a weak human being. I am no saint!
 
CRATUS said:
It is no surprise to me when people outside of church, those without faith choose to sin. Why do people who are well-knowledgeable about sin and it’s consequences choose to sin? Shouldn’t they be past that at some point in their lives?
There is no excuse for sin, yet devout Christians elect to sin. I understand no one is perfect. I do not understand it though.
Click to expand...
Because devotion and knowledge are not the same thing as knowing Jesus Christ. They are necessary and integral stepping stones to that relationship. But our pride is frequently more powerful than knowledge. In pride we love ourselves instead of Jesus Christ.
 
CRATUS said:
It is no surprise to me when people outside of church, those without faith choose to sin. Why do people who are well-knowledgeable about sin and it’s consequences choose to sin? Shouldn’t they be past that at some point in their lives?
There is no excuse for sin, yet devout Christians elect to sin. I understand no one is perfect. I do not understand it though.
Click to expand...
I am practicing, but I feel like calling myself devout is a little, bizarre. Man has a fallen nature, this is a good part of it. For me, with mortal sin, when you’ve been doing the same things since 12 or 13 (I was not raised in a religious household) and no one tells you it is wrong, it is a hard habit to get over. Addiction is a big player in this.
 
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