The line between a temptation and committing a sin is often a difficult one to discern.
We are all likely familiar with a temptation popping into our mind. Some of us may immediately think that we committed a sin, even if we didn't consent to the temptation and it came out of nowhere.
Yet, as any good confessor would tell you, being tempted is different than committing a sin. You can be tempted, as Jesus was in the desert, and yet remain "immaculate" in your soul.
What is the difference?
3 Steps to any temptation
St. Francis de Sales provides an excellent illustration to ponder in his Introduction to the Devout Life:
Picture to yourself a young princess beloved of her husband, to whom some evil wretch should send a messenger to tempt her to infidelity.
First, the messenger would bring forth his propositions.
Secondly, the princess would either accept or reject the overtures.
Thirdly, she would consent to them or refuse them.
He then connects that illustration to the spiritual life:
Even so, when Satan, the world, and the flesh look upon a soul espoused to the Son of God, they set temptations and suggestions before that soul, whereby—
1. Sin is proposed to it.
2. Which proposals are either pleasing or displeasing to the soul.
3. The soul either consents, or rejects them.
In other words, the three downward steps of temptation, delectation, and consent. And although the three steps may not always be so clearly defined as in this illustration, they are to be plainly traced in all great and serious sins.
The key, for St. Francis de Sales, is that "we took no pleasure in it, and did not consent to it; and that because in temptation we do not act, we only suffer, and inasmuch as we take no delight in it, we can be liable to no blame."
As with all spiritual matters of the soul, be sure to consult your spiritual advisor to discern whether or not you sinned when a temptation came to your mind.
It isn't always easy, but if we break down each temptation and see if we consented to it, or took delight in it, than we can better understand if we sinned.
Our lives on earth will never be free from temptation, but the closer we are to God, the better we will be able to fight against those temptations and reject them.
