Why do we sin? Seriously, why do we sin? Is there something to delight in murder and theft and lying? Does breaking the commandments benefit us more than obeying them? The greatest critique to God is that He is not good and allows sin to happen. Let us leave the problem of Evil for another day and just ask, “why we ourselves cause sin?” Sin is, simply put, the absence of good. Sin itself does not exist. Instead, we must corrupt and pervert the goodness of the world in order to commit a sin. Why do we do this?
For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1857
Thomas Aquinas taught that there are three causes of sin: Ignorance, Weakness, and Malice. These three weakness also align with the trinitarian description of the human person: mind, body, and soul. Ignorance is when we sin because we do not know what is a sin and what is not a sin. Weakness is when we sin not because we lack knowledge but we are impotent to prevent ourselves from sinning due to lack of discipline or lack of autonomy. Malice is when we sin because we want the sin committed.
IGNORANCE is the most childish cause of sin. Lack of knowledge can be claimed so many times. Giving the excuse “I didn’t know” can only be said so often with honesty. As we grow older, it becomes easier to spot where we are blind to the world. We are able to understand that there is a vast amount of knowledge that we do not know and truthfully cannot know. However, choosing to be ignorant is a serious issue. We are all morally obligated to form our consciences to the best of our ability. Steve Urkle may be adorable, but at some point ignorance is harmful and must be corrected. Thus, we may sin simply because we do not fully understand human nature and our Creator’s Will. Ignorance is the cause of sin when we may CHOOSE a sinful behavior, but we do not KNOW it is a sin.
WEAKNESS is lacking the ability to prevent ourselves from sinning. We know that our action/behavior is sinful, but we cannot stop it. This is most often when our bodies override our will. This is the plea of the addict trapped in a lifestyle that they can’t break free from. This is the alcoholic who knows another beer will not stop the pain. This is the person who blacks out in fits of rage and does not remember what they did. This cause usually evokes the greatest amount of pity. How many times have we declared that, “enough is a enough and no more shall we partake in a vice or sin” only to do the very thing we sworn off the following day? Thus, we may sin due to our own weakness to refuse sin. In a lighter tone, Steve Urkle is guilty of this due to his lack of coordination. Weakness is the cause of sin when we KNOW a behavior is sinful, but we DO NOT CHOOSE the sin with total freedom.
Malice is when we do the sin itself. We want to cause harm. We want to be far from God. We want to corrupt and pervert what is good. Sounds awful? Because it is! It is the exact opposite of what humans were designed to be. We were meant to live with God and dwell in His Goodness. Yet, our sinfulness leads us astray from God. Every now and then Steve Urkle’s “did I do that?” was intentional and malicious. Malicious is the cause of sin because we KNOW a behavior is evil and we CHOOSE to do the behavior anyway.
Why do we sin? I believe the best metaphor to answer the question is when we have an itch. Personally, I am well acquainted with the sensation after I got some sort of bug after visiting Colombia. I have plenty a late night contemplating will power and the desire to scratch an itch with full knowledge that you are only further harming your skin. Let us walk through when we have an itch. In this case, scratching is us committing the sin and the sensation of itchiness is the temptation of sin. Hopefully, itchiness is benign enough so we are more open to our own sinfulness. It is all too easy to think we wouldn’t sin in x-y-z scenario, but the truth is we are all sinners and must ask God’s grace an mercy to grow in holiness.
Now, itchiness. The sensation is trigger whenever the largest organ in our body, our skin, has detected some sort of anomaly. Now, the cause could be external or internal. The external causes being bugs, grass, scratchy sweaters, scabs, and any other foreign objects rubbing against the sin. The internal causes could be allergies, skin disorders, or other chemistry that convinces your body that the skin needs assistance. The same with the temptation of sin. It can come from the world outside of us or it can come from within due to our own habits/lifestyle.
Regardless, we are now faced with the decision to either scratch or not to scratch. Those are the two basic options. We could complicate things by using creams, ice, and whatever wives tale that is supposed to help with itching. For now, let us to think scratch or no scratch. What happens if we scratch? Well, more often the itch goes away. But if it doesn’t go away and we continue to scratch it causes harm to the skin. This harm often invokes greater amounts of itchiness which the temptation to itch grows as well. What happens if we do NOT scratch? Sometimes it goes away. If it doesn’t, then sometimes our skin must deal with a foreign substance deliberately causing it distress.
Unfortunately, scratching an itch rarely solves the solution. Scratching only removes the itchy sensation if it is an external cause to the itchiness. Either a scratchy sweater or sand from your skin is removed with a good one two with your nails. However, scratching your skin does not remove chicken pox, it does not solve your eczema, nor does it take away trichinella from that undercooked goat you ate in Colombia (trust me). An internal cause of scratching will most likely never be removed because you scratched your skin. The same can be said of sin. Our internal temptations will always be greater than our external temptations. External temptations can be controlled and remove from our lives. This is the meaning of Jesus saying, “It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew 5:30)
Why do we sin when we know it is not good? Why do we scratch when we know that the scratching will not help? These questions are similar if not identical. We sin whenever we choose lesser goods over greater goods. We scratch because the “relief” of scratching is more tolerable than the sensation of itchiness. Do we really want to murder someone or do we want justice? Do we really want pornography or do we want intimacy and respect? Do we really want to steal or do we want to know that we can provide for our wants/needs? Sin happens when we fail to prioritize God above all else. Instead, we take the more convenient and easier answer to the yearning that only God can satisfy.
What happens if we keep scratching? Our skin gets more and more damaged. God forbid we even break skin and start bleeding. The kicker is the sensation of itchiness could even be present as we bleed. Truly, itchiness is a powerful sensation. We do not want to harm ourselves, but we want that itchiness to go away. The same goes for sin. Unless we are truly malicious, we do not want to commit the sin. In our ignorance and weakness, we sin in order to erroneously try to get a higher good. Yet, if we continue to sin then we are more the worse off for it. A person who becomes addicted to vice must fight tooth and nail to recover their freedom. We must be able to say, “No. I will not Sin.” It is hard to say, but even harder to carry out. Why do we sin? Why is it difficult to scratch the 20 mosquito bites that are all on the same spot in your leg? The lesser good has a stronger hold over us than the greater good.
We must be able to fight our temptations and gain greater freedom in our lives. If there is any reason to not sin, then it is because we lose our freedom to love and be loved. Sex before marriage makes commitment harder and harder. intoxication makes it difficult to be at peace on your terms. Those who watch pornography may not be able to enjoy a walk through nature. Those who do not worship God on Sunday may find it difficult to find God throughout the week. Sin erodes our freedom and we let it because we become condition to be content with the lesser goods.
The choice is to scratch or not scratch. Paradoxically, not scratching often times brings about a greater relief in the long term. By not scratching, the skin is able to heal whatever is causing the itchiness without the additional burden of healing the abrasions caused by scratching. Just like sin. Our mind, body, and will may be tilling us that the sin is what we should do, but we must not listen to ourselves. We must resist the urge to scratch and trustingly obey God. God say that he wants to live life and live it abundantly. (John 10:10)
Sin takes us father and father away from God. Scratching causes more and more harm. We must be still and know that God is God! (46:10) Only then, will be able to resist the temptation of sin. The temptation of sin will never truly go away, because, on this side of heaven, we are tainted by Original Sin. But the temptations can grow weaker the less and less we give into temptation. If we have already given in, if we scratched the itch, then we will find that the sensation is far from satisfied. The sensation merely becomes louder and stronger and more demanding.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:8-10
Why do we sin? Because we are finite beings who crave eternity. We are not made for this world. We are made to be with God in heaven. We will never be satisfied with this world that we live in. We will constantly seek God and try to find Him even if we deny His existence. Our search for God is the cross that all must bear. As we search in the wrong places, our condition will become worse and worse. If we do find him, then such peace and joy awaits us. We will find a God who loves us. Once we know who God is and how to find Him, then why would we go back to the way of the Gentiles? Why scratch the itch when we know eternal life is awaiting for us in heaven!
The Average Catholic: More Articles Here! 
Leave a comment