MY SINS
Baptism wipes away original sin, and any other sin, because it gives us the Holy Spirit, who is God. We are no longer separated from God's love and life. However we still love ourselves more than we love God. So sometimes we are selfish. We chose to act without love for God or other people. These are my sins..
When I act selfishly, without love for God or others, I sin. I must answer to God for my sins, because I did them.
My sins tell God that I do not want to share His life in Jesus. Therefore my sins helped put Jesus on the Cross, because I do not want to love other people as God loves them. By my sins I say no to God's love.
My sins put what I want before what God wants. When I sin, I do what I want, and not what God wants me to do.
God wants us to share in His life, and His life is filled with love. For us to share in God's life through Jesus we must love others as God does. When we love others we are a part of God's love, so we are a part of God. We help others to feel the love of God by our love.
You must Love God with all your heart... And Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus told us, "Do this and you will live."
Even when other people do not love you, you must still love them, for God still loves us, even when we sin against Him. You must love like Jesus loves, because Jesus, God the Son, forgave even His enemies. Jesus tells us; "Love your enemy and do good..." To help us know how we are to love God and love our Neighbors. God gave Moses
The 10 COMMANDMENTS
When I break any one of these Commandments, I commit a Sin.
- I am the Lord your God, you shall not have any strange gods before Me.
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.
- Honor your Father and your Mother.
- You shall not Kill.
- You shall not commit Adultery.
- You shall not Steal.
- You shall not Lie.
- You shall not covet your neighbor's spouse.
- You shall not covet your neighbor's goods
Some sins are more serious than others are. The most serious sins are called Mortal Sins.
A MORTAL SIN ends the life we share with God in Jesus.
If you kill someone, then you would sin so badly, that you would no longer have God's life inside you. You would be filled with hate instead of love, so you would be unable to share in God's life... because God is love. You cannot have God's love inside of you if you are so full of hate and selfishness. There fore, Mortal Sins separate us from God.
If you die with a mortal sin you cannot go to Heaven. Heaven is where we share in God's life, and Mortal Sins put an end to our sharing in God's life.
Only the Holy Mystery of Penance can forgive Mortal Sins, and fill us again with gift of God's life. Most sins are not so serious.
Most times when we sin, we do not separate ourselves completely from God. By most sins we just do what we want, instead of what God wants us to do.
We call these less serious sins, Venial Sins. A VENIAL SIN makes God sad, because we are not being good as we should be. We still share in God's life, but it becomes harder for us to feel God's love inside of us. The more Venial Sins we have the harder it becomes for us to do good, or act with love, because it is harder and harder with each sin for us to feel God's love and goodness inside us, so we act selfishly and not lovingly.
If we steal a toy from our friend, God is sad because we are being selfish. We are taking something we want, without thinking about how our friend will feel. This is not love, and God is love. We still have the gift of God's love inside us, yet Venial Sins make it hard for us to feel God's love, because we are not acting with love.
The Church suggests that you should confess your Venial Sins often in the Mystery of Penance. Being forgiven of these sins will help you feel the gift of God's life inside you and make it easier for you to act with love - the very love of God, which is inside you. Confessing our Venial Sins lets God's Spirit inside of us shine brighter protecting us from wanting to be selfish.
Receiving Christ in Holy Communion also forgives our Venial Sins, because it renews the gift of God's life inside us. It brings us together with Christ, the Son of God, filling us with God's love helping us to act with that love, instead of our own selfish desires.
Mark each sin below as Mortal or Venial. Describe how each sin either separates us from sharing in the gift of God's life, a Mortal Sin, or just makes it harder for us to feel God's love inside us, a Venial Sin.
- Killing other person _________________________
- Using Bad words_____________________________
- Disobeying your Parents______________________
- Fighting with your sister or brother____________
- Stop going to Church on Sunday_________________
- Telling a Lie________________________________
- Cheating in a Game or on a Test_________________
- Fooling around in Church or School______________
- Teaching someone not to Love God______________
- Stealing candy from the store_________________
- Calling someone Names_________________________
- Being mean to another person__________________
