On Avoiding the Occasions of Sin

First Point - Although Satan is a formidable enemy, he is not so powerful as we imagine. He can attack the heart only from without, because it is a sanctuary that he cannot enter unless we permit him. He is invisible, and our most dangerous temptations come from sensible objects. We ourselves furnish him the arms with which he contends against us. He owes his strength to our weakness or rather to our temerity and to the facility with which we enter into the occasions of sin. Let us be less presumptuous, and he will be less powerful.

Second Point - The heart is, as it were, a fort which the devil besieges; but it is a fort which he can capture not so much by force as by strategy. He has at his command, certain spies which furnish him with information. These spies are our passions which, when excited, delude our reason, weaken our will, and finally deliver us into the hands of the enemy. Hence it is that Saint Paul calls the sting of the flesh the envoy or ambassador of Satan, who negotiates with our hearts, and at the first opportunity causes our ruin.

Third Point - We are influenced ordinarily by the objects that surround us: we are good if they are good; we are evil if they are evil. From these objects spring forth our thoughts, from thoughts our desires, from desires our attachments, which make our vices and our virtues. Whether these objects attack us of themselves or merely by their image, they have always great power over our hearts and our spirits. Their impression is always very vivid and lasting. Now what renders their impression so vivid if not the occasions of sin? Let us flee, then, from all occasions of sin, if we truly desire to avoid sin.

Take the resolution to avoid all occasions of sin, especially those that are most dangerous to you.

Flee, and save your lives. - Jeremiah 48:6

God has well ordained that our victory over sin and our salvation should depend on our fear and our flight from the occasions of sin. - Saint Augustine of Hippo

- text taken from Meditations for Every Day in a Month, by Father François Nepveu