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118 For if whilst you on the one hand fight against a particular indulgence, and on the other attach yourself to some earthly delight (though it amount only to a venial fault), hard will be the battle, and bloody, and the victory rare and very uncertain.

Therefore bear in mind those divine utterances:—"He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." St. John xii. 25. "Brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die; but if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Rom. viii. 12.

Sixthly, my last advice is, that you should make a general confession, for this, perhaps, you will find necessary at first, observing all that is required for doing it well; so shall you be more certain that you are in your Lord's favour, from Whom alone all graces and all victories must be looked for.