Will avoiding sin be easier after i recieve the sacraments?

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TeenageConvert

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I’ve folund from both practicing Catholics and personal expirience, that one of the best ways to keep away the devil is to simply ignore him, rarely speak of him, and if you feel tempted, maybe say a prayer or two, then totally ignore it and move on with something else, preferably something. Good or charitable.

But I fail at this far too often.
I sin too much I’m starting to get back into the habit of swearing, something my daily rosary I used to pray helped put a temporary end to, but sloth crept in and everytime I have the time to pray one, I just don’t. So now I’ll be overcome with anger and cuss. I try fasting more than is required by the church, but gluttony gets the best of me! so basically the 7 deadly sins are doing their jobs too good haha.
Anyway I was wondering if after I receive the sacraments, it would be easier(not easy, I know it won’t be, but easier than it is now) to avoid sin

Or will my new closeness to God and his church simply inspire the devil even more to try to keep me from God.

I think too much, in case you have not noticed from this particular post, or a lot of threads started by me 😃 lol
 
Yes, it will be easier for you to fight temptations when they arise. But you will also become aware of further sin to which you may be subject. This has been my experience as a convert almost 2 years in.

Be VERY careful not to fall into anxiety or scrupulosity. God is merciful; in fact His Divine Mercy is infinite and unfathomable. He understands that you’ll hit speed bumps on the way.
 
TeenageConvert said:
I’ve folund from both practicing Catholics and personal expirience, that one of the best ways to keep away the devil is to simply ignore him, rarely speak of him, and if you feel tempted, maybe say a prayer or two, then totally ignore it and move on with something else, preferably something. Good or charitable.

But I fail at this far too often.
I sin too much I’m starting to get back into the habit of swearing, something my daily rosary I used to pray helped put a temporary end to, but sloth crept in and everytime I have the time to pray one, I just don’t. So now I’ll be overcome with anger and cuss. I try fasting more than is required by the church, but gluttony gets the best of me! so basically the 7 deadly sins are doing their jobs too good haha.
Anyway I was wondering if after I receive the sacraments, it would be easier(not easy, I know it won’t be, but easier than it is now) to avoid sin

Or will my new closeness to God and his church simply inspire the devil even more to try to keep me from God.

You can always count on the devil to be there to make virtue difficult, but receiving the sacraments frequently is a giant step toward keeping Jesus as #1 in your life. Try this idea when tempted. Picture Jesus and the devil standing before you. If you give in to the devil he will grin and gloat enough to make you nauseated. You made him happy. But if you made him happy, Jesus is feeling the opposite emotion. Is that going to make YOU happy? An image of the crucifix should show how far our Lord is willing to go for your happiness. Good luck and God bless.

I think too much, in case you have not noticed from this particular post, or a lot of threads started by me 😃 lol
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I respectfully disagree with Cat Herder.

satan is infuriated by the fact that you are using such powerful weapons against him. Namely, the rosary and fasting.

I believe he is redoubling his efforts to bring you down.

So, if you fall you can still keep him from winning if you jump right back into God’s arms and begin anew and with stronger resolve not to sin.

This will make him try again, and harder. But, your efforts please God to the extent where He will give you all you need to keep fighting.

Keep up your spiritual exercises. They are your fortress.

P.S. I know I sound like an army general, but life is a waged war against satan.
The prize is your soul. Keep fighting.
 
In your case, the sacrament of Reconciliation and the consumption of the Holy Eucharist will strengthen your self-control and endurance. The choice to sin, however, will always be present and remain present (until the end of time, respectively). Grace is not a treatment for temptation, but rather a foundation for any gifts of the Holy Spirit that allow you to resist said temptation.
Secondly, God is the cause of all good, and the root of all good. Satan, adversely, is the cause of FIRST evil, but not the cause of all evil. Allow me to explain:
Light and darkness aren’t technically opposites. Darkness isn’t a “thing”, but is instead a lack of light. Similarly, evil is not a presence of a “thing”, but a lack of God. It’s a void. Even though there is only one light, there can be many “darknesses” or shadows. I wouldn’t blame all your temptations on Satan.
 
will avoiding sin be easier after i recieve the sacraments?

YES…the sacraments are wonderful through them Christ give us his life…true life and special grace …
 
TeenageConvert said:
I’ve folund from both practicing Catholics and personal expirience, that one of the best ways to keep away the devil is to simply ignore him, rarely speak of him, and if you feel tempted, maybe say a prayer or two, then totally ignore it and move on with something else, preferably something. Good or charitable.

But I fail at this far too often.
I sin too much I’m starting to get back into the habit of swearing, something my daily rosary I used to pray helped put a temporary end to, but sloth crept in and everytime I have the time to pray one, I just don’t. So now I’ll be overcome with anger and cuss. I try fasting more than is required by the church, but gluttony gets the best of me! so basically the 7 deadly sins are doing their jobs too good haha.
Anyway I was wondering if after I receive the sacraments, it would be easier(not easy, I know it won’t be, but easier than it is now) to avoid sin

Or will my new closeness to God and his church simply inspire the devil even more to try to keep me from God.

I think too much, in case you have not noticed from this particular post, or a lot of threads started by me 😃 lol
Click to expand...
Being received into the Church is the beginning of the battle. If you are truly growing closer to God the demons will fight you at every turn. There is no way to avoid it. The good news is, if you find yourself fighting temptations you should rejoice because you are indeed making progress.

St Anthony the Great

“Expect temptations to your last breath. Without temptations no-one can be saved”

**St John of Kronstadt **

“Do not fear the conflict, and do not flee from it; where there is no struggle, there is no virtue.” -
 
TeenageConvert said:
I’ve folund from both practicing Catholics and personal expirience, that one of the best ways to keep away the devil is to simply ignore him, rarely speak of him, and if you feel tempted, maybe say a prayer or two, then totally ignore it and move on with something else, preferably something. Good or charitable.

But I fail at this far too often.
I sin too much I’m starting to get back into the habit of swearing, something my daily rosary I used to pray helped put a temporary end to, but sloth crept in and everytime I have the time to pray one, I just don’t. So now I’ll be overcome with anger and cuss. I try fasting more than is required by the church, but gluttony gets the best of me! so basically the 7 deadly sins are doing their jobs too good haha.
Anyway I was wondering if after I receive the sacraments, it would be easier(not easy, I know it won’t be, but easier than it is now) to avoid sin

Or will my new closeness to God and his church simply inspire the devil even more to try to keep me from God.

I think too much, in case you have not noticed from this particular post, or a lot of threads started by me 😃 lol
Click to expand...
The Sacraments and prayer will give you strength against sin, but satan will try even harder to make you fall (so it’s both easier and more difficult to avoid sin). Because of this, you must rely very heavily on those two things- the Sacraments, and prayer- all the time. Don’t ever turn away from them- even for a minute. Obviously, you can’t receive the Sacraments constantly, but you can live a Eucharist-centered life by always meditating on the Eucharist- being mindful that Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord is truly present among us. You can always be mindful of the healing power of baptism, and of your adoption into the Family of God- reminding yourself by using holy water, blessed salt, and other sacramentals.
 
If the sacraments, either the reconciliation and/or the holy communion would make easier the fight against the temptations, then the Catholics would commit significantly less sins than the protestants or other people. There is no evidence for this whatsoever.

Psychologically immediately after receiving the first sacraments may help and this may give some trigger effect to brake a bad habit which represents a particular temptation, but the bottom line is that the sacramental life elevates us into a higher level, the requirements against us becomes higher, so in overall we are not in better position.
 
m134e5 said:
The Sacraments and prayer will give you strength against sin, but satan will try even harder to make you fall (so it’s both easier and more difficult to avoid sin).
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Exactly. As you grow in grace the enemy will try to find new ways to attack. So you must perservere, grow spiritually and stay close to Our Lord. As m134e5 said there is a treasury of anti-devil weaponry at your disposal.

I strongly recommend the Brown Scapular if you aren’t already invested in it.
 
laszlo said:
If the sacraments, either the reconciliation and/or the holy communion would make easier the fight against the temptations, then the Catholics would commit significantly less sins than the protestants or other people. There is no evidence for this whatsoever.
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I don’t think this is a valid generalization because it does not take into effect the disposition of the recipient, which does effect whether the recipient actually receives grace and also how the recipient will actually respond to that grace.
 
😃 thanks everyone to everyone who replied, and @CatHerder: I tried getting my priest to enroll me in one, but father said he couldn’t until I was baptized
 
Cat_Herder said:
I don’t think this is a valid generalization because it does not take into effect the disposition of the recipient, which does effect whether the recipient actually receives grace and also how the recipient will actually respond to that grace.
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Neither did the original question. That (the disposition) is internal. Only external events may be object to a statistical comparison.

Above that the grace is not restricted to the Catholics. Non Catholics too receive grace and respond to it. No one can get to God w/o grace, and the Fenneyism that only Catholics are saved is rejected theory.
 
laszlo said:
Neither did the original question. That (the disposition) is internal. Only external events may be object to a statistical comparison.
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You, my friend, were the one asserting that sin–which is a matter of internal disposition–is equally prevalent in Catholics and Protestants. You have now reversed your position by admitting internals cannot be measured; therefore sin cannot be measured.

Certainly some sin can be measured from external events (watch the ten o’ clock news), but most sins are matters of the heart and mind and so they cannot be directly measured, nor is there a one-to-one correlation between internal-only sins and those which have external observable effect(s).
 
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