LIFE AFTER CONCUPISCENCE by Anthony Okosa

May we never lose our way.
People from time to time say that maturity this, maturity that.

I don't know. But then, I still believe that the intelligence I had as a 10 year old was unchanged up till now and people still listen to me talk.

I had the pleasure of reading my autobiography I started writing when I was in secondary school. That's over 10 years ago.

I still admire the things I wrote and how I processed stuff.

Back to the matter.
There are lots of ideas I believe growing up.
These ideas still remain correct.
The truth be told, maturity is just getting used to sin.

When you get so used to SIN, you are called matured.
Because when you indeed get used to SIN, you see it as okay. You process it as normal.

It's psychologically proven.
So much so, it's one of the sins against the Holy Spirit— Presumption down to Final impenitence.

You see what I did there?
Those 6 sins are stages, not really separate sins.

1. Presumption: The first stage— The sinner presumes he's holy despite his sin. Self righteousness. He feels he's perfect. In fact, that there are sins he cannot commit and looks down at sinners. This is due to his human efforts which he thinks will win him salvation.

2. Despair: He is soon faced with temptation and falls. The sinner tries but fails to stop committing sin. So the sinner begins to give up hope of repentance.


3. Resisting the known truth:
At this stage, the sinner thinks to himself— how can a perfect man like me be a sinner? This thing is not a sin. The church just wants to cage us by telling us this thing is a sin. It can't be a sin because how a whole me will be the one committing it? Me that is perfect. Holy and righteous.
Also he may also want to go on committing it so he tells himself, maybe this sin is not even a sin

4. Envy of another's spiritual good:
A part of him knows his messing up. He begins to despise those who try to do what is right. He attacks them with words like— "see them, Na them go church pass but Na them sin pass." "See am, she wear long skirt dey form holy holy."
"This one go dey donate money every time. You sure say e dey pay so?"

5. Obstinacy in Sin: Repeating the sin again and again has become normal. You no longer see anything bad in it again.
No matter how many times you preached to, you still go and do that sin that you want to do. You don't care about hell again. After YOLO— You only live once.
"And he gave them over to their stubbornness of heart."

6. Final impenitence: Impenitence means unable to ask God for forgiveness. At the this stage, the sinner doesn't even believe he's a sinner. I mean, he's busy telling everyone that what he does is not sin. That that which he does is even a good. And he really believes that he's sin is not a sin.
And when one doesn't believe that what he does is a sin, he can never ask for forgiveness. It's not that if he asks God for forgiveness God will not forgive him but he can't even ask because he does think he is sinful.


PS: If you were to list your current sins, trust me, most of you who only be to list only about 10 to 20. But you know in your heart of hearts, that you've committed if not all the sins in the world.

But ask yourself, why don't you remember them one by one?
Why because you will only remember the sins that new to you. The ones you are used to will die in your memory.

WHAT TO DO?
Thank God you read this.
Make firm purpose of amendment.
Sorrow for your sins.
Go for confession
Make an act of contrition.
Do good to replace every wrong you have ever done.

Verifiable reference for sins against the Holy Spirit:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/aleteia.org/2018/06/04/6-sins-against-the-holy-spirit/amp/