Overcoming Sin Requires Our Full Participation
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| Photo by John Torcasio on Unsplash |
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
-Hebrews 12:1-2
Overcoming sin and conforming our wills with God's Will is very, very difficult.
We all know this.
This is not news.
What can we do?
To be successful in overcoming our sins and conforming our wills, knowing our triggers is important. In other words, how are our lives usually going, when we most easily fall into sin? It's usually part of a pattern. We get sick of sinning like a fool. We resolve to change our lives and begin taking part in the sacramental life of the Church. We turn more often to prayer, especially during the daily bumps in the road. Gradually, however, our lives begin to change. We have less and less time to pray and we aren't as ready to avail ourselves of the sacramental graces. Before we know it, our lives become chaotic and overwhelming and we become exhausted and despondent. Then the temptations hit and they are ramped up and relentless. Fleeting mental suggestions alternate with pounding, visceral cravings. We've been working so hard and we are so tired, that it seems like too much work to continue resisting. "I've been working hard and I deserve a break. And this one time doesn't mean anything," we lie to ourselves. But we are proud and self-centered enough for them to work. We sin just in time for the second half of the cycle to begin: self-hatred and indulgence.
This sounds very similar to a patient, who takes his meds for awhile and begins to feel stronger and better. Too soon, he resumes his regular routine and begins to believe he's cured. He stops taking his meds, then the wheels fall off and he ends up worse off than he was before he was diagnosed. Like this patient, our overweening and overconfident reliance on ourselves and our hagiographic self-images are our downfall. This is when Satan begins to whisper in our ears, "Look how good you're doing! You are so much stronger than you were last week. My! You do have this licked."
"Yes," we respond. "I am doing better. This is so much easier than I thought it was going to be. God must be giving me the strength to see this through." Yet, we haven't faced anything yet. We've only sunk Satan's barb through our cheeks. Since we are doing so well and are so much stronger, we convince ourselves, that we can take on more, while reducing the time we have been spending with God in prayer and sacrament. Much too quickly, we find we are no stronger than we have ever been and are repeating the cycle.
This may be the experience most of us have, but we cannot keep repeating these cycles of sin and pride. God wants more for us, much more. "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). God is here for us, but Christianity is not magic and Christ is not a cosmic waitress. We are called to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) and in our flesh complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions (Colossians 1:24). Since Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for the salvation of the world, what is St. Paul talking about?
Think about the football team or the band or whatever extracurricular activity you joined at your high school. The high school hosted the team and hired the coaches. Parents and other volunteers supported the team. Everything sufficient for the team to exist was accomplished. The Jackdaw High School football team, for example, is on the school's roster of athletic teams. At this point, are you on the team? Are you a member of the mighty Jackdaw Chyaks? Not hardly. Neither your residence in the town nor your enrollment in the high school gives you an automatic spot on the football team. What do you have to do? You have to join the team. Then you have to work your butt off every day at practice. Then you have to give 110% at every game. It doesn't stop there. You have to commit yourself to being the best player you can be and the best teammate on the Chyaks. You have to be humble enough to listen to your coaches and your teammates, when they offer constructive criticism. And why do you put yourself through all of this blood, sweat, and pain? For the love of the game and of your team. Now you can brag about being a member of the mighty Jackdaw Chyaks.
The above analogy isn't perfect. It's probably not even good, but it gets across St. Paul's idea about our participation in our own salvation. We are not saved simply because we were born or simply because we may belong to our local parish. "Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it" (1 Corinthians 9:24). "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7). We can't be passive and complacent, then, when it comes to overcoming sin and temptation.
Overcoming sin and temptation is difficult, but it is much easier for those who are active. How, then, can we participate with God's grace to thwart Satan's exploitation of our weaknesses?
Changing my perspective in the following ways has helped in my ongoing struggle to overcome sin and temptation.
First, we have to be humble. We have to understand that we are no match for Satan and the myriad ways he has of leading us from our good intentions and back into slavery to him. We are weak, weak, weak. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. We cannot do this on our own. The good news is we aren't supposed to. We are supposed to rely on God. Rather than every temptation being a test and a failure of our willpower, we can turn every temptation into a time to beg God for His help. And I do mean beg. During a particularly strong temptation, all you can do is sit still or walk around continually begging for His strength. It will come. We just have to be humble, patient and trusting.
Likewise, in humility, we must spend much more time with God in prayer and in the sacraments. Grace strengthens and encourages us against sin and temptation. Grace draws us into an increasingly more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. The closer we are to Christ and the more dearly we love Him, the more attractive Christ becomes and less attractive are our sins. Christ reveals Himself most in the Sacred Scriptures and in the Blessed Sacrament. The more time we can spend in these two channels, the more Christ's love fills our hearts, minds and souls. Filled with His love, our deepest desire becomes returning that love in our service to Him through our service to our neighbors. Consumed in God's love, the allure of sin diminishes and the opportunities to engage in sin become fewer.
Slow down. A lot. Just as you make time for exercising, eating and sleeping, so you can function in this world, you must make time for prayer, Sacred Scripture and the sacraments to function in both this world and in the next as God intends. "For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?" (Mark 8:36). Think back. We lose our fights against sin during those very moments, when we have surrendered ourselves to the unrelenting cares of the world we believe are so important. No. Resting in God is more important. We must detach ourselves from whatever is keeping us from this and trust in God's Divine Providence. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul" (Psalm 23).
Finally, always remember, that God loves us infinitely. He truly and honestly does. What God gives us is truly for our benefit. No, we may not see how, so we must simply believe.
"God is love" (1 John 4:8).
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