Is the difference between good and evil becoming more apparent and pronounced? I have people sharing with me that it is and I have noticed it also. That many are seeing evil intent in those that they once thought were of good intentions. That some people are showing their true colors …. that the seven deadly sins are rearing their evil heads in the clarity and intention of what they are loud and louder in our world.
Deadly Sin |
Opposing Virtue |
Brief description |
|---|---|---|
| Pride |
Humility | Seeing ourselves as we are and not comparing ourselves to others is humility. Pride and vanity are competitive. If someone else’s pride really bothers you, you have a lot of pride. |
| Avarice/Greed | Generosity | This is about more than money. Generosity means letting others get the credit or praise. It is giving without having expectations of the other person. Greed wants to get its “fair share” or a bit more. |
| Envy | Love | “Love is patient, love is kind…” Love actively seeks the good of others for their sake. Envy resents the good others receive or even might receive. Envy is almost indistinguishable from pride at times. |
| Wrath/Anger | Kindness | Kindness means taking the tender approach, with patience and compassion. Anger is often our first reaction to the problems of others. Impatience with the faults of others is related to this. |
| Lust | Self control | Self control and self mastery prevent pleasure from killing the soul by suffocation. Legitimate pleasures are controlled in the same way an athlete’s muscles are: for maximum efficiency without damage. Lust is the self-destructive drive for pleasure out of proportion to its worth. Sex, power, or image can be used well, but they tend to go out of control. |
| Gluttony | Faith and Temperance | Temperance accepts the natural limits of pleasures and preserves this natural balance. This does not pertain only to food, but to entertainment and other legitimate goods, and even the company of others. |
| Sloth | Zeal | Zeal is the energetic response of the heart to God’s commands. The other sins work together to deaden the spiritual senses so we first become slow to respond to God and then drift completely into the sleep of complacency. |
What is the deadly sin that ‘gets’ you the most? Mine is anger… when I am confronted by phonies, lying, cons, sinning, and duplicity… I tend to flip into blind anger…instead of being able to confront it in myself and the situation in a calm manner. I am working on this…
What are you aware of to work on and to transmute in yourself?
Excellent reminder. Thank you Ayn. Mine is anger too.
Never more so than now!
The evil in the world is just less hidden and is becoming more bold.