By: Rosario Alfaro Martínez
If you have ever committed an impurity sin, you have to get up and go on.
The Catholic Church Catechism (2343) says: “Chastity has laws of growth which progress through stages marked by imperfection and too often by sin…, it means that even if we try with all our heart to be pure and chaste it is probable that we fall sometime, or, if we do not walk, if we do not move, we probably will not fall but we will not make progress or mature either.
So if you are from those who move and you have made mistakes, especially those who you said, promised and swore you would never commit, welcome to the club of human beings.
It is very important to know what to do:
1. Be aware of your limits. You are a human being and it can happen to anybody.
2. Forgive yourself. The guilt you feel after doing “something wrong” is the direct responsible factor that makes you do it again, if you forgive yourself, you can avoid doing it again. Even if you continue to fall, forgive yourself; think this; if we sin 70 times 7, it is sure Jesus will forgive us, if He forgives you: why don’t you?
3. Confess your sins. The Reconciliation Sacrament is the best way to face a sin, not only because it helps to forgive ourselves but because it gives us the grace so as not to do it again.
4. Make up for the damage as much as possible. If you hurt somebody or yourself, try to repair that situation. Unfortunately this is the most difficult part, when we hurt somebody, sometimes that hurt is so serious that it is not enough to say: I am sorry, but there are other things that we can do to make amends for our faults, one of them is to help people that have been victims from similar offenses, or work with people that, just like us, have not acted right, so that they can make up for their sins.
5. Be conscious and try to avoid doing it again. Walk away from any occasion of falling in the same situation.
6. Learn from your experience. Even if you do not believe so, a sin can be of great help for your spiritual life, not when you commit it but when you repent from it and you feel the need to have God in your life. You can learn from it about your limits and above all, if you have the humility to realize that you need God. When you become aware that you need God in your life, this will lead you to be compassionate with others.
If you have fallen down, do not worry, you can always get up!
