This is the second installment of a series of 2 articles titled St Thomas Aquinas on the Daughters of Lust: A systematic breakdown of how lust affects the will and intellect.
You can read the first installment here.
Two weeks ago we looked at St. Thomas Aquinas’s theory of the “eight daughters of lust”, eight negative effects that sexual immorality has on the will and intellect.
In the first installment of this series, we went through the four “daughters” that affect the intellect (Sexual Sin Makes You Dumber). In this second and final installment, we’ll analyze the remaining four daughters, those that affect the will (Sexual Sin Makes You Weaker). If you haven’t, I recommend you go and read the first installment before you continue reading this article:
As was said in the aforementioned article, the goal of this series is twofold:
To help you run a more honest and unbiased self-diagnosis.
To help you understand just how deeply sexual sin affects you, so that you can no longer justify it as “not that bad”.
Finally, at the end of this essay, I’ll also share some practical resources to help you quit pornography and defeat other forms of sexual immorality.
The 4 Daughters of Lust that Affect the Will
In the previous installment, we gave the example of the man who’s intelligent, capable, well-intentioned and otherwise disciplined, but whose judgment collapses consistently in certain areas of his life, usually when it comes to choosing to pursue chastity. That’s a good way of understanding how lust blinds the intellect.
When it comes to the will, consider the example of a man who has intellectually chosen to quit pornography and stop pursuing casual sex, but who simply cannot get himself to follow through.
Whereas in the first example the man is intellectually blind to the consequences and thus actively chooses poorly or justifies his sexual immorality, in this case the man chooses correctly with his intellect but has a will too weak to follow through. This is caused by the “four daughters” that affect the will, which are:
Self-love: This is defined as an inordinate desire for pleasure for the self, by which a man chooses external, worldly goods instead of higher spiritual ones.
Example: A man intends to keep a boundary (e.g., no porn, no provocative scrolling), but when temptation hits he quietly rationalizes “I deserve this,” making the pleasure the practical “end” of what he chooses next. In this case, the intellect is willing (sets the boundary), but the will is weakened and thus pushes towards the object of immediate pleasure.Hatred of God: Because of the aforementioned self-love, hatred of God arises as the will recognizes God as the One Who forbids the desired pleasure. Thus, the will directly shuns God (in aversion) when it becomes clouded by lust to the point of loving the self in a disordered manner.
Example: Even when a man knows confession, grace, and God’s commands would help, he feels drawn to resent God’s law, because he feels like “God is just ruining my fun”, and thus he delays repentance because he doesn’t want to give up the pleasure.Love of this world: This is the effect by which a man treats worldly achievement/experience as the means to final happiness. Instead of setting his sights on eternity, a man acts as if the final objective of his existence was to be found among the things of this world.
Example: A man starts prioritizing environments that feed lust (certain accounts, parties, flirting “for confidence,” bingeing content) not merely as entertainment, but as the “path” he instinctively uses to feel complete. The effect is that he’s less willing to choose prayer, purity, or stable commitments.Despair of the next world: As bodily pleasures intensify and as the will becomes more and more drawn to them, spiritual pleasures begin to be despised. In turn, spiritual goods start to seem pointless and/or unattainable.
Example: After repeated falls, a man stops expecting real change: “I can’t,” “it’s too late”. He loses hope and interest and quits trying to pray, go to confession, or practice virtue, because eternal life no longer feels desirable or reachable.
Lustful actions have deep rooted and long lasting negative effects on your ability to think, reason, and choose the right course of action. The man who persistently engages in sexually immoral behaviors will slowly become less intelligent (literally), and weaken his will, becoming a slave to the pleasure that he has made it his life’s mission to get.
When the lower powers are strongly moved towards their objects, the result is that the higher powers are hindered and disordered in their acts. Now the effect of the vice of lust is that the lower appetite, namely the concupiscible, is most vehemently intent on its object, to wit, the object of pleasure, on account of the vehemence of the pleasure. Consequently the higher powers, namely the reason and the will, are most grievously disordered by lust.
— St. Thomas Aquinas, ST II-II
I can also tell you, from experience, that the theory we just examined is undeniably true. My life has changed dramatically ever since I started living chastely. It’s one of those things that you likely won’t even believe until you’ve experienced it yourself, but it’s as if you had been living with a veil over your eyes that lifts as soon as you clean up your life, allowing you to see the world clearly and understand profound things better.
Why Defeating Lust is Critical
Lust is probably the vice that is hurting young men the most all over the world. Sexual immorality is rampant, largely due to a lack of understanding of the vastly negative array of effects that lustful actions have on the mind, body and soul.
That is why it’s so important to understand the eight daughters of lust, because understanding the full damage of sexual immorality may finally give you the arguments you need to take a stand against it.
As you can see, sexual immorality affects everything else in your life. The good news is that it’s possible to defeat this enemy, and doing so will not just make you feel better, but it will make your intellect sharper and your will stronger.
Practical Resources to Help You Quit
I’ve written lots of articles about quitting sexual immorality in this blog, which I’ll link at the end of the article, but to save you some time, the tool I find myself recommending most is Relay, a Christian app built for men fighting pornography and sexual sin, combining accountability, structure, and a community of men in the same battle. Several men I know personally have told me it made the difference after other approaches had failed.
If you have been trying other methods and they haven’t worked, I recommend you give this one a try and see if it helps you. You can get a 7-day free trial with the code AETERNUM:
Maybe after reading this you realize that your own will has been weakened by lust, or maybe you don’t.
Whatever the case, I want to encourage you to pursue chastity as a priority in your life. For me, choosing chastity was the final “yes” I needed to give God before He could truly start transforming my heart.
The shackles of sexual immorality can be broken, the daughters of lust can be defeated, and you can reclaim the faculties that pornography and masturbation have stolen from you.
God is there, ready to help you grow in virtue, ready to purify you. All you need to do is accept His help.
Ad Maiora Nati Sumus,
Juan
Additional Resources
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Explains most of what is going on in the west these days.
Thank you very much for this article. Lust is something that I have dealt with for years, and I have reminded myself Proverbs 6:27-28. The answer is no I cannot. Christ said when the house is cleaned out there comes more unclean spirits than there was before.
These verses resonated within my heart as I read your articles. Thank you again sir. I appreciate it. God bless.