Thank you for this thread. My spiritual/emotional life has been difficult for a while, and I really appreciate the advice here. John, I'm also glad to know I'm not the only one!
And thanks for reading it!
I don't think we have enough of this sort of stuff on fisheaters (or am I missing something?) Lots of theological debate and "jews" this and "freemasons" that but, as Thomas a Kempis once said,
"we will not be asked on Judgment Day what books we have read but what deeds we have done."
Spirituality is *the* absolute focus of the Christian, way more important than what this Latin phrase means or whether the Protocols of the Elders of Zion was authentic or what have you; seems . . . cruddy that we don't have a place dedicated to it or more threads on it!
Try not to be too hard on yourself. Acknowledging that you have a problem and feeling truly bad about it, and praying to God for grace, will go a long way; remember the prayers of the pharisee and the taxpayer. I think I remember a saint saying that God leaves all of us in *some* sin as a way to keep us humble - I might be wrong on that quote though, and of course we must always fight. Being tempted toward a sin is just like suffering or any other trial . . . it's a test of our love for God, and if we persevere to the end we will enjoy eternal life with him in Heaven
Another thing that helps me is to recognize what gifts God has given me . . . as well as the wounds I allow Satan to do to my soul through my own sinful will. If I recognize both, without attaching undue importance to either (not hating myself for my failings or loving myself for gifts which are neither extraordinary nor deserved), it helps, because if I constantly put myself down in a way that, deep down, I know to be false, I just end up rebelling against humility at some point down the line.
