Seven Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Sloth, Wrath, and Envy. 

Although all these sins are dangerous to a person’s soul, there is one that stands out: pride. Pride is one of the worst sins on this list because it taints every virtue, and makes salvation much harder to obtain. 

If you have humility, but also have pride, this is what you get: If a soul tainted with pride wishes to have humility, he may say to God “I am nothing,” but praises himself for being so holy. If a person adds pride to generosity, there are two results. The first is giving what the person really doesn’t need, but constantly taking what the person “rightfully deserves.” The second result would be that the person takes this to the extreme such as selling everything he owns, in order to say that he was the best and boast about how much he has given to such and such a charity. Pride can taint Chastity. A proud soul will stay pure by. Impurity lies first in the heart or in one’s intentions, rather than solely in things physical. If you add pride to kindness, you get flattery. This means that you compliment a person inordinately, just too either look good, to make your reputation better, or to get something out of the person. This is, once again, very superficial, because, on the surface you seem quite charitable, but on the inside, you could hate the person, and no one would know it.

In short, pride is stealing from God the rightful glory due to Him. We tell Him that we are the reason for our virtue and holiness, rather than recognizing the sole source of this goodness. Most people forget that all good is from God alone, and applies it to themselves. This vice begins to eat away at our soul, and make what we thought was Faith, Hope, and Charity, to Me, Myself, and I. There are many ways that you can save your soul from this vice, but the main one is to pray for the grace of Humility. This is easily acquired by saying the “Litany of Humility”, or reminding yourself that all the goodness that you ever did came from God, and any sinfulness came from yourself. In having humility, we begin to love God more, as well as grow in the spiritual life. This is the most important thing in our life because it is the only thing that lasts for eternity.

The Seventeen Evidences of a Lack of Humility

1. To think that what one says or does is better than what others say or do

2. To always want to get your own way

3. To argue with stubbornness and bad manners whether you are right or wrong

4. To give your opinion when it has not been requested or when charity does not demand it

5. To look down on another's point of view

6. Not to look on your gifts and abilities as lent

7. Not to recognize that you are unworthy of all honors and esteem, not even of the earth you walk on and things you possess

8. To use yourself as an example in conversations

9. To speak badly of yourself so that others will think well of you or contradict you

10. To excuse yourself when you are corrected

11. To hide humiliating faults from your spiritual director, so that he will not change the impression he has of you

12. To take pleasure in praise and compliments

13. To be saddened because others are held in higher esteem

14. To refuse to perform inferior tasks

15. To seek to stand out

16. To refer in conversation to your honesty, genius, dexterity, or professional prestige

17. To be ashamed because you lack certain goods

Closing Prayer 

Let us prayer for love and peace. I pray that you help me resist temptation. Let us also pray for our financial situation that our God should restore unto me what the devil has taken.