We are punished by our sins, not for them. (Elbert Hubbard)
When I read that, I could literally hear my mind come to a screeching halt:
Wait!
What?
We do not get punished for our sins?
We get punished by our sins?
How?!
I immediately snatched my laptop and googled the sins. (They had temporarily slipped my mind (*cough*). Just temporarily!!)
This is what I found (not necessarily in this order):
– Greed
– Wrath
– Envy
– Pride
– Gluttony
– Sloth
– Lust
Once I had all the sins, I started digging into the “how”:
How is it that we get punished by our sins?
Here is a little compilation (no claim on completeness!):
When I’m greedy, I will never be satisfied. I will always thirst for something else; I will always aspire for more. In other words, I am ever-hungry. Yep. That’s quite a punishment.
If I’m angry, I will never rest. I will always find something to be angry about. I will never feel peace for long – if ever. Not a nice way to live either.
If I envy other people’s success, possessions, looks and so forth, I am obviously unable to cherish my own abilities and circumstances. I am very unhappy in and with my own skin – I am punished by joylessness.
Pride forces me to be in constant competition with other people since I define my self-worth by comparing myself to them. That in itself is punishment enough. But it gets worse: Pride stops me from growing because I cannot take advice. In other words, pride undermines the very thing it needs to sustain itself: competitive capacity. Ultimately, pride will deprive me of everything I could genuinely and gracefully be proud of.
As for gluttony: Sooner or later, whatever I enjoy in excess becomes dull and disagreeable. One piece of cake is delicious. Maybe even two. But the third, fourth, or fifth doesn’t taste that good anymore and eventually I will get sick to my stomach. In general, overindulgence diminishes the very pleasure it seeks and can be very unhealthy, if not life threatening – whether it is too much food, too much alcohol, too much sleep, too much sun, or too much TV. Even too much water can be lethal.
Laziness has the same unhealthy consequences as gluttony. Only instead of doing too much, laziness causes me to do too little: I don’t eat enough, don’t move enough, don’t work enough. In short, I slowly wither away.
When my sin is lust, I will never experience love. That might actually be the worst punishment of them all …
Sin punishes sin.
No need for a judge.
No need for a jury.
No need for an executioner.
That is genius.
Absolutely genius.
Or dare I say divine?
Brigitte K. Schneider
aka Ms. Gluttonia Wrath-Sloth
Copyright © 2021, Brigitte K. Schneider. If you wish to quote text from this article contact the author by leaving a comment.
Wow Brigitte, thanks again for your insight and honesty. It feels good to open my mind. Pat Rex
How does one distinguish between good and evil? Does sin objectively exist, or is it simply a figment of our imagination? Who determines what is good or evil?
The sins mentioned in the article are known as the “deadly sins” because they are “mortal.” The kill sanctifying grace in the soul. They separate the sinner from God, which is hell.
Of all the deadly sins, pride is the worst, because it lays the foundation of all other sins. The person who suffers from this sin makes the decision to take God’s place, and decide for himself or herself what constitutes good or evil. Essentially, they’re attempting a hostile takeover of God’s power. Often megalomaniacs fit into this category…Hitler, Stalin, Mao.
One last thought. As a psychologist who worked eighteen years in high-security prison, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that evil exists, and that many people who commit monstrous acts enjoy what they’re doing. They’re already in hell, but just don’t know it yet.
Thank you Mark. This old brain needed clarity.