Episode 56 -- Spiritual Combat c33.1 -- Critical Instructions for Predominant Passions

Now that I am aware of my predominate passion (or attraction to sin), what should I do?

Having spent several chapters on the devil’s tactics, Fr Scupoli wants to remind us that our main spiritual warfare is fought on the battlefield of our own hearts. The enemies within are

1. our pride,
2. our egoism (bad self-love),
3. our predominant passion.

If we have stuck with The Spiritual Combat this long, then we are convinced that we need some kind of method to gain the victory over our false self, our false view of what we should be. There is a certain pattern to our sins and bad self-love. In chapter 33, Fr Scupoli gives some important instructions on what to do next.

OBJECTION. We saw last episode that humility depends “getting rid of self-esteem.” To modern ears, that sounds wrong! In the 400 years since he wrote Spiritual Combat, new ways of using the words self-esteem have been developed. Why does Fr Scupoli say that we need to get rid of SELF-ESTEEM? He really means getting rid of what we now call: Bad and false self-esteem.

• Bad and false/excessive self-esteem
  • I am something special apart from God.
  • I can be what I want to be without God.
  • I can decide the meaning of my life.
  • I am superior to other people because of all my talents.
  • How lucky other people are to have me around!
• True and good self esteem
  • God created me to share in his Divine Life forever.
  • I am a child of God the Father.
  • I am redeemed by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
  • I share in the divine life by the gift of the Holy Spirit in my heart.
  • I am willed by God and a living, necessary member of his Church, the mystical Body of Christ.
  • With Mary, Joseph, and all the saints, I have a part to play in His plans, like every part of a human body.
  • I am loved into existence by God. Apart from his loving decision to make me, I have no being. His love holds me up and sustains me.
  • In my mother’s womb, he created my soul from nothing.
  • My life is connected to many other lives in this great body of Christ, this web of grace.

In other words, we have to get rid of all the ways we THINK ABOUT OURSELVES without referring to God. My true SELF is found in God!

When we forget God, we develop the false SELF esteem based on an imperfect view of ourselves. Since Scupoli wrote his book, people have so forgotten God that a new problem has arisen on the other extreme: NO SELF-ESTEEM leading to BAD SELF-HATRED. Looking at ourselves in our weakness and loneliness, being ignorant of the eternal life and love of the Trinity, we are tempted to think they are not worth living. Some people feel their life is pointless.

If the devil cannot make us proud and full of bad self-esteem, he tries to convince people of their absolute ugliness. The devil tries to make us PRESUMPTUOUS or DESPAIRING. And so we need to find the BALANCE!

What is the balance? Loving Jesus and being loved by Him. Knowing that we are part of HIS CHURCH. CONFIDENCE in GOD! TRUST! Living in the Truth of God’s existence and God’s LOVE. In Jesus Christ, my life, in all its weakness, has meaning!

The battle plans we will discuss in this episode must be seen in the light of God’s love for us. Even our efforts are rooted in His gifts. We want to become loving persons because He first loved us.