Venial Sins

Venial sins are less serious sins that do not cause death to the soul like mortal sins. Venial sins, while less serious in content or participation should be given strong attention because they lessen the love of God in the heart and weaken the power to resist further sin; they are still offenses against God and leave marks on the soul. Venial sins make us more prone to continue to commit sins and possibly commit mortal sins.

Venial sins can appear to be mortal sins, but fail to meet each of the three conditions for mortal sin. If a sin is grave in nature, but the person did not have full consent or sufficient knowledge that what they were doing was sinful then it would be considered a venial sin.

Definition of Sins from the Scriptures

The Scriptures provide a differentiation between types of sins; some sins are deadly (mortal) and some are not. For this we turn to 1 John 5:16-17.

“If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.”

Confessing Venial Sins

While not technically necessary to go to confession for venial sins, it is strongly recommended that one confesses their venial sins so as to strengthen one’s ability to resist the temptation of sin and grow in love of God. Also, while considered “light sins” when added together the light sins in aggregate can become very heavy and weigh deeply on the soul. It is best to go to confession for all sins.

Venial sin can create an unhealthy attachment to things not of God. Habitual venial sin will lead people away from God into further sin and making going to confession and seeking reconciliation with God much more challenging.

10 thoughts on “Venial Sins”

  1. Jennifer Schrock

    I’m a convert to catechism and im still learning. I still am foggy on whay actually needs to be confessed and how often we should confess. Should we confess once a week or once a year or more?

  2. we all have sins and need a Savior badly…..plsssssssssss read 1 John 5:18-21.Hebrews 9:27 it is appointed for men to die once and after this judgement.see that there is no purgatory at all…..

    1. But didnt god die on the cross for our sins . So what was the point him dieing on the cross he done that for us to save his people . So what was the point in it if we are not forgiveing . Why didnt he just continue to stick to all his rules about being judged an sending us to hell ir another place to cleanse us . Were we not forgiveing when he sent his only son to die for our sins

      1. I believe God sent his son to die in the cross for us because he loves us, and he gave us another chance because he is indeed merciful. Just because Jesus died for us doesn’t mean the sins we commit now knowingly or unknowingly are forgiven, we need to ask for forgiveness. I feel like knowingly committing a. sin because Jesus died for us assuming all that comes after is forgiven is somewhat disrespectful to Him.

      2. But God is all knowing, therefore he knew that when he created us we would be sinners. So inevitably he also knew that some of us would commit unforgivable sins. Is it really moral for a God to create us with a tendency for sin and then punish us for it? All the while knowing what will happen in the end? How does free will play into that? How can we have free will when we cannot choose what we enjoy? For example, I prefer chocolate than vanilla ice cream. What if it was a sin to enjoy chocolate ice cream? Would I be eternally punished for something I cannot control? I’m genuinely curious about these things.

      3. He did die on the cross for our sins. However, he still allows the right to reject his sacrifice. In short, we can say no through our will and our behavior, as well as our words. We can also say yes in the same manner.

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