The central problem the fellow was grappling with wasn’t lust, it was pride. There’s no such thing as protecting your wife by sinning. The only way out of the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” conundrum is to take yourself out of the center altogether, to admit defeat, to seek personal repentance, and to let God work out how to bring salvation out of that humility. The fellow couldn’t make any progress with his sexual compulsions because he was trying very hard to make sure he was still in charge — not only of his own behavior and his own soul, but his wife’s soul, as well.
Read the rest of my latest from The Catholic Weekly.
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Image: Daniel R. Blume via Flickr (Creative Commons)
“I thought that I relied on God to keep my children safe, but really I was using God as just one of many tools to keep my children safe; and when the whole “trust God” aspect didn’t seem to be doing the trick, I’d try something else.”
I cannot tell you how much I needed to hear this today.
Hoo boy. I pray about this one…and still fail it pretty regularly. Found this a helpful read, thanks.