Overcome Concupiscence with the Power of Virtue
Mankind’s Original Harmony
Before Original Sin, Adam and Eve enjoyed a state called “Original Justice.” Basically, this means that everything inside Adam and Eve was in harmony. Their personalities were led by the intellect (the ability to know the truth) and then guided by the will (the ability to choose the greatest good), followed by the senses (physical knowledge) and the physical appetites (our emotions and desires). So Adam and Eve’s bodily desires never overpowered their reason.
So when Adam and Eve were faced with a choice, they first thought about the truth of the situation so they could choose the greatest good. Sometimes that meant choosing to fulfill their desire and emotions. Sometimes it meant controlling their emotions and desires and choosing something else that gave them a greater good.
This internal harmony was also expressed as external harmony. Adam and Eve enjoyed an intimate relationship with God. They also enjoyed a relationship of perfect love with each other. And because it was the sign of the Original Covenant, Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect harmony with Creation.
It is good to understand deeply this state of Original Justice because one of the goals of the moral life is to strive to regain Original Justice.
Enter Concupiscence
Unfortunately, when Adam and Eve committed the Original Sin through the beguilement of Satan, they took upon themselves a power that did not belong to them. It was the spiritual version of putting your finger into an electrical socket. You take power into yourself that was not meant for it, and it messes you up. The spiritual effect of taking into themselves the “knowledge of good and evil” is the rebellious notion that we can be like God and define for ourselves what is good and evil even in opposition to God.
That power messed us up spiritually just as surely as electricity would mess you up physically. Now the physical desires and the physical senses rule the personality, often suppressing the reason and freedom of the intellect and the will. This unruly physical desire is called concupiscence. Because of concupiscence, we struggle to make selfless choices and are tempted to selflessly pursue our own pleasure. Therefore, concupiscence also leads to sin, which disrupts our relationship with God. It leads to discord between each other. Because Creation was subject to man, and because it was the sign of the now-broken Covenant, it is also fallen.
Strive for Goodness
Baptism removes the stain of Original Sin from our soul and brings us back into Covenant with God. It gives us sanctifying grace, which is the presence of the Holy Trinity in our souls, healing the rift between us and God. A very important part of the spiritual life is cooperating with grace in order to overcome the effects of Original Sin. Jesus could have wiped out those effects in Baptism, but He didn’t. Instead, He invites us to strive against them in order to build our love for Him. We need to become determined to combat our sinfulness and weakness and to turn to Jesus and the love of God. If we are going to persevere in this struggle, we need to establish and strengthen moral virtue. But first, we need to understand what we’re striving against.
Lust of the Flesh
“She saw it was good for food . . .”
In 1 John 2:6, Saint John identifies three forms of concupiscence: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. While he doesn’t define these forms of concupiscence, his classifications can help us to understand how concupiscence operates in our lives and which virtues can help us strive against its effects.
The “Lust of the Flesh” most commonly refers to the basic bodily desires for food, drink, warmth, safety, and sex. These physical desires are not disordered in-and-of themselves. It is perfectly normal and even good to feel hungry when your body needs food. Sexual desire isn’t considered sinful either (despite the popular misconception). But because of concupiscence, our desires go beyond the reasonable use of physical goods. We desire food beyond what we need to eat to survive. We desire sex outside of its proper place in the marital relationship.
The “Cardinal Sins,” also called the “Deadly Sins,” are another way to describe forms of concupiscence. Most of the Cardinal Sins are defined as “inordinate desires.” The Cardinal Sins that speak to the lust of the flesh include lust, gluttony, and sloth. The sin of lust is not the experience of sexual desire, but being moved by sexual desire to see someone as a thing to be used rather than a person to be loved. The sin of gluttony is the desire for food that makes our own appetite more important than anyone or anything else. We desire security to the point of sloth, which means aversion to the work necessary to get something that is good.
Temperance is the main moral virtue that helps us to combat the lusts of the flesh. Temperance is the habit of practicing self-control in order to balance your desires. Balanced desires mean the proper enjoyment of physical goods without selfishly overusing them or using them for purposes God did not intend.
Lust of the Eyes
“. . . pleasing to the eye . . .”
Lust of the eyes speaks to the Ninth and Tenth Commandments. The Ninth Commandment is “Thou Shalt Not Covet your neighbor’s wife.” The Tenth Commandment is “Thou Shalt Not Covet your neighbor’s goods.” The sin of covetousness speaks directly to the “inordinate desire” described by the Seven Deadly Sins. Whereas “lust of the flesh” means overindulging in physical goods, “lust of the eyes” means wanting more than you have, and more than you should. Quite literally, we’re talking about seeing good things and selfishly desiring them. When Jesus teaches “You have heard it said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ but I tell you that whoever looks at a woman with lust in his heart has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” He is talking about lust of the eyes.
Lust of the eyes also includes the more “advanced” desires for money and possessions. These are “advanced” because they are not naturally attractive to us. We learn to desire these things because of the good they bring into our lives.
The lust of the eyes coincides with the Capital Sins of avarice and envy. Avarice, also known as greed, is the inordinate desire for money and possessions. Envy is the sin of sorrow over the good of another person. It is opposite (an opposite, anyway) of love, which is to will the good of the other. Lust of the eyes is a sure sign that we are thinking too much about ourselves and not enough about others.
The main virtue that combats lust of the eyes is therefore modesty. Modesty means thinking less about yourself and drawing less attention to yourself. It is also wise to practice “custody of the eyes.” Literally, this means controlling what you look at. If you’re drawn into selfish daydreams by looking at that boat for sale on the corner, don’t look at it! One final consideration is generosity or beneficence. Think about others, especially those in need. Make your first thought about how you can help others rather than how you can help yourself.
Pride of Life
“. . . and desirable for the knowledge it offered.”
The final form of concupiscence Saint John talks about is “pride of life.” This is the inordinate desire for things like power, glory, or our own will. It’s the temptation to make ourselves into gods. It often means positing our will against God’s, and therefore can lead us into numerous sins.
The Cardinal Sins most closely associated with “pride of life” are pride and anger. Pride is the inordinate desire for personal glory. Many spiritual masters say that pride is the root of all sin since like Adam and Eve’s sin it is the desire to make ourselves into God. Instead of giving God the glory that is due to Him, we claim that glory for ourselves. Anger is the inordinate desire for revenge. As a sin, anger is the tendency to see ourselves as more important to others, and indeed to see others as evil.
The main virtue to combat the pride of life is humility. Humility is an accurate conception of yourself, including your strengths and your weaknesses. It is the recognition of our limits. While some things we do may be praiseworthy, we are not worthy of all praise, and we are not more worthy of praise than anyone other than God. Humility means recognizing that we are limited creatures and God is the unlimited, glorious Creator. Humility also means thinking less about ourselves and more about others. To combat anger we can develop justice and mercy. Justice is the habit of giving to each person what is due (owed) to him or her. Justice puts a limit on revenge, as expressed in “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (Exodus 21:24). This God-given guide was not a call to revenge as is often erroneously supposed. It is a limit on revenge in a culture that would more likely say, “If you steal my sheep, I will kill you, your family, and your entire village.” God was calling His people to justice rather than revenge. Mercy goes beyond justice. It is love in the midst of someone else’s suffering. We can oppose anger by loving people even when their suffering is their consequence for wronging us.
How Virtue Combats Concupiscence
You can see how growth in moral virtues can help us to overcome the different expressions of concupiscence in our lives. The ultimate antidote to concupiscence, selfishness, and sinfulness is charity. But charity is a tall order. To love selflessly, as Christ loved us, requires a lot of conversion in our hearts. The moral virtues act like stepping stones to that ultimate goal. They train our hearts in the various areas of goodness. Each one exercises an element of charity, strengthening us to take up our crosses and follow Jesus.
The challenge of the moral life isn’t just to follow the 10 Commandments or to try to “be good.” The true challenge of the moral life is to take a long, hard, honest look into your soul, and with the help of the Holy Spirit identify just how Original Sin and your own personal sins have damaged your heart. Then we are called to seek the grace of forgiveness and healing and to cooperate with that grace to repair and strengthen our heart where it is damaged.
Growing in the Moral Life
If this article has described an area of the Catholic spiritual life that you need to grow in, then you are in the right place! From the Abbey‘s online spirituality program “The Power of Virtue” teaches you how to truly examine your conscience, identify your moral weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and then cooperate with grace in order to strengthen your heart in goodness. From the Abbey has online classes to help you learn your faith more completely and online spirituality programs to help you to live your faith more deeply. Take your next step with us! The opportunity below could be your next step toward holiness. I’d love to take it with you!
Brought to you by Jeffrey S. Arrowood at From the Abbey, dedicated to helping you rediscover the JOY of learning and living your faith so you can grow in intimacy with God.