Sin Destroys Our Self Worth
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You are of Immeasurable worth, you matter because you have been made in the image and likeness of God. We can’t create or add to our personal worth because it is a gift from God. But we can throw it away by serious sin.
God took David from following sheep to make him King over Israel, gave him rest from all his enemies and promised him his Kingdom would last forever.
Yet after all that God had done for him, David throws it all away.
He seduces a beautiful woman, Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of David’s military officers who at that very moment was risking his life for David on the battlefield. She conceives, tells David, who in the effort to cover his sin of adultery secretly commands that Uriah be purposely abandoned in battle, and he is killed.
After all that God has done for him, David commits adultery, treachery, and murder.
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God then sends the prophet Nathan to confront David for his sin.
Though David has sinned grievously and stands to lose much if the truth is revealed, David is humble enough to admit his wrongdoing and confess his sin to God. Psalm 51 is a Psalm of David’s sorrow and repentance. He cries out:
Have mercy on me God in your kindness…
Save me from death – the death of the soul.
Create a clean heart in me O God
And put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
Nor deprive me of your Holy Spirit.
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David’s expression of sorrow and his plea for forgiveness are moving.
What he fears most is not the loss of his earthly kingdom, but of losing the greatest good, the very thing that gave him his true identity and worth, that is, his relationship with God and the Holy Spirit dwelling within him that made him a son of God by adoption. That is the only thing we should fear – that by an abuse of our freedom we too are capable of throwing away God’s divine life within us.
Our value as a human person comes from being made in his image and likeness. These are two distinct things.
Image means you are a human person – that can never be lost.
The Likeness of God means the Holy Spirit dwelling within you giving you a share in God’s divine life. That can be thrown away by committing serious sin knowingly and willingly. That is what a mortal sin is – a sin that kills us spiritually by rejecting God’s eternal life within us. That is the one thing we should fear.
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There is a four-fold way to protect your identity as a child of God:
I. By daily meditation, with the Rosary or beyond it, take the time to think about Jesus, his life, and his teachings.
II. Then think about your life. What are your sins? What temptations led to those sins? What disordered desires drive those temptations. Figure this out. That is an examination of conscience.
III. Then make a simple concrete game-plan to not give in to the temptations and practice the opposite virtues – that is your daily resolution.
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The last step in our strategy is to go to Confession at least once a month.
Jesus is the only one who can forgive, heal and restore his life within us. We meet him in the Sacrament of Confession. The priest is only the instrument of Jesus.
We need frequent confession because the devil will urge you on to sin and then accuse and revile you incessantly once you fall and you will have no peace of mind. Jesus can forgive and heal you. Go to Him in Confession and have your peace of mind restored!