Avoiding mortal sin

[RileyG]

How can I avoid mortal sin? Be more prayerful? Be more busy?

I go to confession weekly and receive the Eucharist weekly, sometimes during the week.

What are your suggestions?

 

[chevyontheriver]

How can I avoid mortal sin? Be more prayerful? Be more busy?

I go to confession weekly and receive the Eucharist weekly, sometimes during the week.

What are your suggestions?

In retrospect, figure out what the conditions and circumstances were when you decided to do the evil deed. And then avoid those circumstances. Keep looking for the triggers. Remove those triggers from your life.

Sin is in the end horridly ugly. Figure out how not to even begin going down that path. Run the other way. Crawl the other way if you need to. Just go the other way.

They say to avoid the near occasion of sin. And to take custody of your senses, particularly the eyes, but really all of them.

The reason self-denial is a part of the Catholic faith is so you will have the strength to say no to sin. Every tiny mortification builds a tiny bit of self control. The more you build that self control up with tiny mortifications the better you will be at saying no to sin.

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello @RileyG, I'm a Protestant, but I can tell you some of the things that have worked for me in regard to avoiding sin (BTW, I will also remove this post immediately if you find it in anyway offensive towards the Catholic faith, as I am aware of what board I am on .. so just let me know).

Two quick means of immediately addressing the problem are these,

1. Eyes straight ahead. IOW, always be on guard/always be careful about what you allow your eyes to see and focus on (whether in real life or in pictures). For men, lust almost always starts right there, with our eyes, so whenever we need to, to avoid being tempted, we look away. This will not be easy to do, especially at first, but I promise you that it will become easier to do over time (it will become a normal response).​

​

2. REFUSE to listen to sinful/lustful thoughts from the very moment that they enter into your mind, or, as the Bible says, "take them CAPTIVE" .. 2 Corinthians 10:5, and give them over to the Lord to deal with instead.​

I believe that this is the principal way that we obey another command too, the one found in James 4:7, which tells us to "resist the devil" (and also, then, the principal/quickest means of receiving the promise that comes along with that command which is, "and he [the devil] will flee from you")

This too is hardly something that is easy to do (refusing your sinful thoughts by taking them captive, that is], and you will probably be in for QUITE a fight, especially at first, but stay steadfast in the midst of the battle, fighting back/refusing your sinful thoughts (again and again and again, as often as you need to), until the devil tires of messing with you and goes to look for an easier target to shoot his flaming arrows at

Whenever you fail at any of this (and you will) and you fall for one of the temptations (the traps) that the devil sends your way, don't waste any time doing what you know that you need to do next (confession/repentance), then get up and get back into the battle.

Praying for you!

God bless you!!

--David
p.s. - there is more, but this post is too long already, so I'll start a second post to finish what I have to say

2 Corinthians 10​

5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.​

​

James 4​

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ​

 

[St_Worm2]

Actually, it's too late for me to write another post (and I'm too tired), but I'll try to get back to it tomorrow, late afternoon or evening after church, Dv (as this next bit is the heart of the matter).

Here's a preview though.............

Psalm 119​

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word.​

11 Thy word I have treasured/hidden/stored in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee.​

God bless you!!

--David
p.s. - finally, did you know that God is actively working in our lives to make it possible for us to not fall for the temptations that we face day by day/moment by moment, that He is (in point of fact) in the business of helping us 'not' sin?

How about that

1 Corinthians 10​

13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.​

.

 

[boughtwithaprice]

Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows will show you the source of your sin. Frequently it is not what you think. Inability to avoid sins against the sixth commandment is not usually a demon of lust. Most times it is a demon of fear. Conquer the fear, the lust goes away.

Pray to Our Lady she is your mother under the devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows and she will reveal to you the source of your difficulty with mortal sin

Look up the Our Lady of Sorrows devotion online
Pray it daily for a couple weeks to a month and see if there is any change on your outlook toward your mortal sin

 

[fide]

Hello Riley - good and important question!
Sin is a false response to a need that is actually satisfied in holiness. We know this world and the things of this world far, far better than we know the things of God - hence, this world's false responses are closer to hand, stronger in attraction, trusted by habit far, far too much and too often! So too often we fall.

You self-suggested: "Be more prayerful? Be more busy?" The first is, truly, key: prayer is crucially important - the Our Father is very important, especially when we come to understand it and pray it well - with understanding and with devotion of the heart and mind to its profound Truth. The prayer ends with our beginning: "Deliver us from evil." Our deliverance requires our acceptance of such deliverance: we must learn to stop loving evil! And that becomes possible when we begin to start loving holiness.

The Church prays for "us" in every Our Father, prayed in every Mass. We pray for one another, including ourselves, when we pray this prayer as commanded by Jesus! - "When you pray,..." (Mt 6:6-15)

 

[RileyG]

Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows will show you the source of your sin. Frequently it is not what you think. Inability to avoid sins against the sixth commandment is not usually a demon of lust. Most times it is a demon of fear. Conquer the fear, the lust goes away.

Pray to Our Lady she is your mother under the devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows and she will reveal to you the source of your difficulty with mortal sin

Look up the Our Lady of Sorrows devotion online
Pray it daily for a couple weeks to a month and see if there is any change on your outlook toward your mortal sin

I actually have a small booklet dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. I need to use those prayers more often.

Blessings

 

[RileyG]

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate it. I tend to get triggered easily and commit sins easily. Lord, have mercy upon me.

 

[boughtwithaprice]

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate it. I tend to get triggered easily and commit sins easily. Lord, have mercy upon me.

Peace be with you. We are not all islands rather the communion of saints. Bless you for sharing your struggles and reaching out May our Lady intercede with her Son for you in your spiritual combat.
Why do we ask Mary and the saints for help? Because it is humility to ask for help. Pride of going it alone can lead to despair when we fail
God knows that you can’t go it alone so He always sends help when you ask for it.

 

[WarriorAngel]

Wear the scapular and miraculous medals.

Also try to avoid being scrupulous.

In psyche they say if you are told 'do not 'insert something'' we tend to do it unconsciously because we are hyper vigilant because it's in our minds.
But yes, prayer works.

Because life on earth is basically a petri dish for the not so heavenly ideas etc, and everything on the earth brought to us by evil is decay, rust, aging, illness and you name it so any kind of exorcism prayers daily really are best.
Then move on the day rest assured you sought protection and received it.
[Faith ^^^]

Adding more frequent Masses are good too, but the exorcism prayers every morning will 'clean you up' so to speak and wanting to pray, attend Mass, have faith etc is easier than before. Also removes triggers.

ANOTHER one is a sip of Holy Water each morning and night.
I got that from the exorcist I posted in politics of OBOB.

I also pray the Chaplet of St Michael because the promise is all your loved ones [and yourself] go to Heaven if prayed.
The Rosary because where Our Lady is there is peace. Also her protection is powerful.

And sometimes I do the Chaplet of the Precious Blood.
Because the Precious Blood is POWER.

 

[RileyG]

Thank you