If we perceive that we are making decisions that are not aligned with our true desires, it is time to think differently.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24
You do not identify the problem. This is an important aspect to take into account, mainly because by identifying the problem we will know how we should act and what kind of help to ask our Holy Father, and at the same time it is necessary that we know what we are facing, basically to know how to act in the future, in case of a relapse. It is widely known that most of the defeats occur in cases of relapse when we believe that by facing the problem a second time, we will have an assured victory.
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5
You do not know how to fight it. To know our obstacles means, at the same time, to find their weak points, in order to discover the ideal way to fight them, since they represent everything that tries to keep us away from the path of the Lord. Let us remember the importance of knowing in depth what we are facing since in this way we will also be able to identify in ourselves what causes these problems to appear in our lives.
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” James 4:4
You think it can never happen to you again. Overcoming an obstacle does not mean that we can take it and place it in a display case to contemplate our achievements. On the contrary, we must keep it on our radar to identify it when it shows up again. To think that it will never happen again is to give it an unnecessary advantage. But at the same time, we have to remember that this is impossible to achieve if we do not have a Faith rich in strength and humility, basic characteristics to count on winning battles on our path.
“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” Galatians 6:1
You think you are not part of the problem. To think of problems as "things" that happen to us just because and for no particular reason is to underestimate them and, ultimately, shows how little you know yourself. Nothing is by chance in this world that God has created, and absolutely everything has a reason, which is our task to unravel in order to get to know ourselves in depth. Let us remember that self-knowledge is essential to detect problems at an early stage when they are only seen as distant threats.