The will to sin is sin

Sinlessness is struggle. It is triumph in the war waged against temptation to sin. The sinful act is a sin indeed, but the very will to sin, the inclination to sin, the intention to sin, is also sin. The will to sin may not be realized, the inclination to sin may not succeed, and the intention to sin may not be put into practice. Some hindrance, some interruption, some fear of detection may arrest or frustrate the commitment of sin, yet the sin, has already originated.

Will is the parent of sin. Sin begins with the sinful thought, whether sinful word or sinful deed is its outcome or not. Sin is there as soon as the soul sanctions it and gives consent to it, even if some circumstance prevents its accomplishment. The resolve to sin is as much a sin as sin in word or deed. The soul sins, when it shows its willingness to sin. The soil of the spirit is already soiled and stained, when it receives the seed of sin in its midst, even when the seed may sprout not and bloom not.

Mithra and Sraosha and Rashnu, thy heavenly judges, Ahura Mazda, judge not appearances and outward results. They hold the soul accountable for the merest contemplation and approval of sin.

Help me to conquer my weakness to succumb to sinful inclination. Strengthen me to suppress the sinful thought when it assails me and, ever-vigilant, to crush it the moment it comes creeping to take hold of my heart. Enable me to preserve my soul stainless and pure from the pollution of sinful thought, Ahura Mazda.

This page was last updated on Friday, February 11, 2005.