Temptation alone is not sin. Strengthen your mind and flesh against temptation with the invaluable counsel of St. Francis de Sales, the Doctor of Divine Love.
Represent to yourself a young princess fondly cherished by her husband, against whose virtue some vile person should make an attempt, sending to her a messenger bearing his hateful overtures.
First of all, the messenger would lay his master’s propositions before the princess; secondly, she would either give or refuse him audience; and thirdly, she would either consent or reject him.
How Temptation Works in the Soul
So when Satan, the world, and the flesh behold a soul espoused to the Son of God, they ply her with suggestions and temptations by which, firstly, sin is set before her; secondly, she either takes pleasure in it or the reverse; and thirdly, she either consents or turns away: which in fact are the three degrees by which we fall into sin—temptation, delectation, and consent.
And although these three steps may not be so obvious in every ordinary sin, they are palpably evident in great and heinous sins.
Why Temptation Alone Is Not Sin
Even supposing that temptation to some particular sin were to last our whole life, it would not render us odious in the sight of God so long as we neither took pleasure therein, nor yielded our consent; and that because in temptation we are not active, but passive; and whereas we take no delight therein, neither can we partake of any guilt.
Saints Who Suffered Great Temptation
St. Paul was grievously tormented by the messenger of Satan, a thorn in his flesh (2 Cor. 12:7), but far from being displeasing to God, He was the rather glorified therein.
The holy Angela of Foligno was so torn with carnal temptations that we cannot hear of them unmoved.
So grievous were the temptations which assailed St. Francis and St. Benedict, that the one cast himself amidst thorns, and the other into snow in order to allay them; nevertheless they lost nothing of the grace of God thereby, but rather grew in it exceedingly.
Feeling vs. Consenting
You must, then, be brave amidst temptations, and never imagine yourself to be conquered so long as they are displeasing to you; keeping clearly in mind the difference between feeling them and consenting to them: this means that you may feel them whilst they displease you, but you cannot consent to them except they please you, since taking pleasure therein is the ordinary step towards consent.
So then the enemies of our salvation may offer us as many lures and snares as they will, may even be watching to effect an entrance into our hearts, may make what overtures they please, but so long as we have the resolution to take no pleasure therein we shall no more offend God than the princess, whom I brought forward as an example, would offend her husband whilst she took no delight in the propositions she received.
The Struggle to Dismiss Temptations
There is, however, one difference between the princess and our soul; the former when she has heard the vile proposition can banish the messenger and hear no more of it; but the soul is not always able to banish temptation, although she is always able to refuse consent; therefore, however long our temptation endures, so long as we detest it we shall be uninjured.
Flesh vs. Spirit
But as to the satisfaction which may ensue upon temptation, inasmuch as our soul has two natures, one inferior the other superior, and the former will not always obey the latter but takes its own course; so sometimes the inferior takes pleasure in temptation without the consent and contrary to the will of the superior.
This is that contest and war to which St. Paul alludes when he says that “the flesh lusteth against the spirit” (Gal. 5:17), and that he sees a law in his members fighting against the law of his mind. (Rom. 7:23).
The Fire of Charity
Did you ever observe a large fire heaped up with cinders? If some ten or twelve hours afterwards you seek the fire, you will barely find a lingering spark in the center of the hearth, and that with difficulty; but since you can discover it, there is undoubtedly some fire left, and it will suffice to rekindle the extinguished fuel.
So is it with charity (which is our spiritual life) amidst great and pressing temptations.
Temptation exercising its attraction on the inferior nature, as it were, buries the soul in ashes, and seemingly extinguishes the love of God; for it is nowhere to be seen, save in the center and depth of the heart, and even there it is hard to find.
Nevertheless, there it is, since, although our whole soul and body are disturbed, we still persevere in the resolution not to consent to sin or to temptation; and that attraction which gratifies the outward man, displeases the inner man; and although it surrounds our will, it has not effected an entrance into it. We see that this attraction is involuntary, and therefore not sinful.
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This article is taken from a chapter in An Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales which is available from TAN Books.
