In a similar manner, we often are tempted to mistake our failings for bad fruit and conclude that we are a bad tree. Many are tempted to turn away from the Church and God, simply because they have sinned. Sin is a bad fruit, but there is always the opportunity for the tree to become good. It is not its destiny to remain a bad tree producing bad fruit.
We must also remind ourselves that God looks to the will or the intention with which we do things. Many good things are done with an evil or bad intention. Though the world may see them as good fruit, God's judgment is to the contrary. A man may give gifts that are good, but if his intentions are to seduce, betray, or take advantage of the beneficiary of his "benevolence," then it is not a good fruit, rather it is an evil one.
Conversely, men often have the best of intentions in their actions but are judged by others to be producing bad fruit. The fruit, that we are looking to judge the tree by, is the will. The intentions that we have, make all the difference between the good and the bad.
Even before our intentions are brought to action, God has judged them good or bad, meritorious or damnable. Sin is an act of the will. We argue simply that God says that the man who harbours anger in is heart is already guilty of murder; and the man who lusts after a woman has already committed adultery. The practice of the Church in recommending Acts of Faith, Hope, Charity, Contrition; Spiritual Communions; etc. also prove to us that God accepts our good desires for the deed just as He accepts our evil desires for the deed.
It is argued that; "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." This cliché refers not to true good intentions, but rather with empty or half-hearted "intentions." A true good intention is deemed good and meritorious regardless of the worldly or physical outcome.
Men often confuse intention with a fanciful wish. A fanciful wish does not necessarily involve the intention to pursue that wish. Many of the Modernists would have us believe that everyone, in his right mind, wishes for heaven, and therefore everyone obtains the benefits of a Baptism of Desire, and everyone goes to Heaven; and there cannot be a Hell. They have confused a fanciful wish with a true desire or intention. A true desire involves the will in the intention to obtain the object of the desire. A true desire for Baptism involves willing to take the necessary steps to obtain it.
Another snare for us lies in temptations. We are often misled to believe that temptations are evil desires. Scrupulous souls must be very cautious in this regard. They must learn to examine their consciences correctly. We have not given into a temptation and sinned unless we make that desire our own through consent. Consent may be a giving into the desire; it may be in entertaining that evil thought longer than necessary; or not dismissing it as soon as possible; or even in taking pleasure in the evil thought itself. If we are disgusted or repulsed by the thought and do all that we can to dismiss it as soon as possible, then we have no need to fear; we have suffered a temptation but have not given consent or sinned. There is no need to mention these temptations in the confessional.
The liberal minds tend to fall to the opposite extreme of scrupulosity. These souls consider their evil desires as nothing more than temptations. They dwell for long periods of time, with pleasure, upon evil. These will readily allow their imaginations to run wild and free, wallowing in their minds, in every kind and degree of sin. They consider like the Scribes and Pharisees that they have not sinned because everything occurred in the hidden recesses of their hearts and was never made manifest to the physical world. We have already mentioned what Our Lord teaches us: that they are guilty nonetheless.
The Gospel warns us of wolves in sheep's clothing; and that we must judge the tree by its fruit. We must be weary of the liberals who want us to believe that: sin is only in the physical actions; there is basically no sin at all; or that sin does not matter. These wolves are out to kill our souls, under the pretence of helping us or loving us. Likewise, we must be weary of the trap of the scrupulous or the pessimist wolves, which would have us see sin and evil everywhere. These, desire to lead us to despair, and a similar death of our souls. May we avoid both extremes by constantly reminding ourselves that virtue is in the middle.