The Seven Deadly Sins

Vice                   Virtue against which it sins                                     Brief description

Pride (1)                   Humility                                          Seeing ourselves as we are and not comparing ourselves
                                                                                      to others is humility. Pride and vanity are competitive. If
                                                                                      someone else's pride really bothers you, you have a lot of
                                                                                      pride.

Avarice/Greed (5)    Generosity                                     This is about more than money. Generosity means letting
                                                                                      others get the credit or praise. It is giving without having
                                                                                      expectations of the other person. Greed wants to get its
                                                                                      "fair share" or a bit more.

Envy (2)                   Love                                               "Love is patient, love is kind…" Love actively seeks the
                                                                                       good of others for their sake. Envy resents the good
                                                                                       others receive or even might receive. Envy is almost
                                                                                       indistinguishable from pride at times.

Wrath/Anger (3)      Kindness                                          Kindness means taking the tender approach, with
                                                                                       patience and compassion. Anger is often our first reaction
                                                                                       to the problems of others. Impatience with the faults of
                                                                                       others is related to this.

Lust (7)                  Self control                                        Self control and self mastery prevent pleasure from killing
                                                                                       the soul by suffocation. Legitimate pleasures are
                                                                                       controlled in the same way an athlete's muscles are: for
                                                                                       maximum efficiency without damage. Lust is the self
                                                                                       -destructive drive for pleasure out of proportion to its
                                                                                       worth. Sex, power, or image can be used well, but they
                                                                                       tend to go out of control.

Gluttony (6)           Faith and Temperance                      Temperance accepts the natural limits of pleasures and
                                                                                       preserves this natural balance. This does not pertain only
                                                                                       to food, but to entertainment and other legitimate goods,
                                                                                       and even the company of others.

Sloth (4)                Zeal                                                   Zeal is the energetic response of the heart to God's
                                                                                      commands. The other sins work together to deaden the
                                                                                      spiritual senses so we first become slow to respond to
                                                                                      God and then drift completely into the sleep of
                                                                                      complacency.