Dominant Defect

"We cannot become discouraged at the thought of our faults and failures. The Lord knows full well what we are made of. He relies on time and grace along with our desires to improve.

"According to many authors of spiritual books, progress in our life of piety depends a good deal on our recognition and understanding of our dominant defect.  This is the defect which has the biggest influence on our behavior and thinking.  It typically becomes evident in what we do, what we want, what we think:  it can be vanity, laziness, impatience, pessimism, a critical spirit...Each person has his or her own path to holiness.  Some people require more fortitude.  Others need more hope or joy.  If we think of the interior life as a little fortress, then the dominant defect is the weak point in the wall.  The enemy of souls looks precisely for this area of vulnerability so that he can enter the fortress with relative ease.  As a result, we would do well to know this weakness.  We ought to ask ourselves:  What do we habitually have our hearts set on?  What worries us most?  What leads us to suffer or lose our peace or fall into sadness?  Most of the temptations we experience will be related in some way to this dominant defect.  This strategy is completely logical from the enemy's point of view.

"Progress in the interior life requires knowledge of this defect.  Let us ask God for his grace in overcoming it:  Lord, keep away from me whatever keeps me away from you.  We can repeat this prayer many times a day.  We should build up the firm resolution never to make a compromise with our defects.  The particular examination should be focused on the wearing down of the dominant defect.  In your particular examination you have to go straight toward the acquisition of a definite virtue or toward the rooting out of the defect which is dominating you.  We will find the strength to wage this life-long struggle in personal spiritual direction."  (from In Conversation with God, volume 5, pages 132-133.)