RELATED: Can the Seven Deadly Sins Be Found in Scripture? And the core dynamic at work within lust just might be the fear that we will not know the joy and pleasure of true intimacy. Similarly, wrath may be a maladaptive response to the fear that I will be hurt again. It wasn’t until much later I realized that this wasted emotion was really my fear that I wasn’t as talented or attractive as she was. She was smart, beautiful, thin, and popular. To this day, I still remember my envy of the girl who sat next to me in chemistry class during high school. Perhaps envy is just an unhealthy response to the fear that I’m not good enough just as I am. Second, at their very core is one central, uncomfortable feeling – fear.
And while it’s great to take a break from continual activity and spend the whole morning in bed, that same impulse on steroids can become sloth. Likewise, it’s a good thing to have self-respect and feel confident, but when taken to the extreme, it becomes pride. An attorney friend of mine told me that she very nearly destroyed her marriage in pursuit of her goal to bill the most hours of any junior associate at her firm. For example, it’s a good thing to set goals and provide for one’s family, but when it becomes excessive or divorced from a healthy purpose, it turns into greed.
RELATED: Video: You Don’t Know Jack About Sinįirst, although each one is a “bad” thing, each one is rooted in a “good” thing but taken to unhealthy extremes. As a result of my penance, I came to three new conclusions about the seven deadly sins. Truly understanding them and how they work can provide a lot of relevant guidance for us today. Although they may seem like antiquated doctrine, I have come to understand them as seven ways we separate ourselves from God’s embrace. The weeks after that confession, I did a lot of prayerful thinking, not only about pride but about each of the “seven deadly sins.” Also known as the “capital vices,” these sins include pride, envy, wrath, greed, lust, sloth, and gluttony. This time, the priest asked me to reflect on why the sin of pride has been such a challenge for me as my penance. This time in confession was different, though. I really just wanted to win the debate and come out on top. But when I reflect upon it later, I recognize those conversations for what they are - excessive pride. In the moment, I think I’m merely arguing my position. A big challenge for me is keeping my ego in check, especially when it comes to being “right.” On more than one occasion, I have said hurtful things to people I care about in my desire to prove that my position is the correct one whenever we disagree. The last time I went to confession, I said to the priest, “I have to tell you about the same sin I talked about last time.” In fact, that same sin has come up every time I’ve been to confession as far back as I can remember - pride.