Difference Between Desire And Temptation?

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

I read that it is impossible to have total control over your thoughts. Things pop into your head and you have to get rid of them. You cannot sin on accident. I read a thing by Fr. Most in which he says there is merit in getting rid of a bad thought:
[url="http://catholicculture.org/docs/most/getwork.cfm?worknum=44"]http://catholicculture.org/docs/most/getwork.cfm?worknum=44[/url]
Scroll down to "Bad Thoughts."

[SRMiller]

[quote name='thedude' post='1165817' date='Jan 15 2007, 07:05 PM']
I read that it is impossible to have total control over your thoughts. Things pop into your head and you have to get rid of them. You cannot sin on accident. I read a thing by Fr. Most in which he says there is merit in getting rid of a bad thought:
[url="http://catholicculture.org/docs/most/getwork.cfm?worknum=44"]http://catholicculture.org/docs/most/getwork.cfm?worknum=44[/url]
Scroll down to "Bad Thoughts."
[/quote]

Thanks. This is what I was thinking of, but didn't know where to find it.

[Theologian in Training]

As one who, in his short span as a priest, has spent a lot of time in the confessional as both a pentitent and confessor, I think your confusion is the result of trying to see desire and temptation as the same exact thing. I don't normally put too much confidence in certain definitions, but I like the way in which dictionary.com was able to delineate between desire and temptation:

Desire - 1. to wish or long for; crave; want.
2. to express a wish to obtain; ask for; request: The mayor desires your presence at the next meeting.
–noun
3. a longing or craving, as for something that brings satisfaction or enjoyment: a desire for fame.
4. an expressed wish; request.
5. something desired.
6. sexual appetite or a sexual urge.

Temptation -

1. the act of tempting; enticement or allurement.
2. something that tempts, entices, or allures.
3. the fact or state of being tempted, esp. to evil.
4. an instance of this.
5. (initial capital letter) the temptation of Christ by Satan. Matt. 4.

Do you see the difference? A desire seems to be the fulfillment of a want or a craving and it usually has a pleasurable connotation. Temptation, on the other hand, is an enticement or allurement, that, in many cases, is specific to each of us as an individual. For some, it may be a fancy car, for others, a beautiful woman or man, etc. , but in each case, we look upon each and ultimately decide what we are going to do. Are we going to think about stealing that car because we want it, or start entertaining certain thoughts from seeing that woman or man? In each case, something is put before us that is not inherently sinful, it is what we decide to do that makes it sinful. That is the nature of our response to temptation and the dynamic of sin. It is when we entertain the thought that it can quickly move from a mere temptation to a sin.

How do we entertain our thoughts? Quite simply by allowing ourselves to be entertained by them. In other words, we derive pleasure from those thoughts, but it is a pleasure that we know we should not be indulging in, and, where that line exists, is based on how well-formed one's conscience is, and that is only something we ourselves know.

So, just to clarify a bit, if all of a sudden a thought pops into your head, from no prompting on your part, that is a temptation. The thing is what will you do with that thought, will you ignore it, let it build up, until something else happens? Will you acknowledge it, then let it go? Or will you indulge in it and let it entertain you?

I remember way back when a priest used to tell me to acknowledge those thoughts and I thought he was crazy, but I now see the wisdom in what he was talking about. For you see, if a thought pops into your head, it is clear you did not intend it, however, if you start to obessess about it, get worried about it, you have taken a temptation and turned it into a source of difficulty for you, you have given that temptation too much credit and though you are not indulging in the temptation itself, you are entertaining it in a very negative way. In other words, the temptation was meant to tempt and it did, not by what it entailed but rather by it just appearing. Yet, that is the danger as well, because then you are inferring, by how much it disturbs you, that you are above temptation and no one is. Incidentally, I have come to see that this is where those that suffer from scruples usually find themselves.

Finally, (I am sorry for being so long) a direct temptation to masturbation may not necessarily entail lust, because the truth of the matter is some people have become physically addicted to it and their body reaches a point where it becomes a "desire" for them. However, that is a topic for another day. With your particular situation, it would depend upon the surrounding circumstances (which, I would encourage you not to share on public forum and if there was nothing that you were aware of that enticed you to that temptation, then it would merely be a temptation, again, it is only if you act upon it that it becomes a sin.

I hope that helps and, again, I apologize for going so long.

God Bless

[Guest Rick777]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1152739' date='Dec 31 2006, 12:51 AM']
PS-Look into Scrupulous Anonymous if this is a consistent problem.
[/quote]

Thank you for this! I can't believe I never heard of this! Awesome.

[brandelynmarie]

Wow! Well stated! Thanks much to thedude & Theologian inTraining!