1Cor 7, 18-24 Do not become slaves to human beings

(1Cor 7, 18-24) Do not become slaves to human beings

[18] Was someone called after he had been circumcised? He should not try to undo his circumcision. Was an uncircumcised person called? He should not be circumcised. [19] Circumcision means nothing, and uncircumcision means nothing; what matters is keeping God's commandments. [20] Everyone should remain in the state in which he was called. [21] Were you a slave when you were called? Do not be concerned but, even if you can gain your freedom, make the most of it. [22] For the slave called in the Lord is a freed person in the Lord, just as the free person who has been called is a slave of Christ. [23] You have been purchased at a price. Do not become slaves to human beings. [24] Brothers, everyone should continue before God in the state in which he was called.

(CCC 2339) Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy (Cf. Sir 1:22). "Man's dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end" (GS 17). (CCC 2340) Whoever wants to remain faithful to his baptismal promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so: self-knowledge, practice of an ascesis adapted to the situations that confront him, obedience to God's commandments, exercise of the moral virtues, and fidelity to prayer. "Indeed it is through chastity that we are gathered together and led back to the unity from which we were fragmented into multiplicity" (St. Augustine, Conf. 10, 29, 40: PL 32, 796). (CCC 2341) The virtue of chastity comes under the cardinal virtue of temperance, which seeks to permeate the passions and appetites of the senses with reason. (CCC 2342) Self-mastery is a long and exacting work. One can never consider it acquired once and for all. It presupposes renewed effort at all stages of life (Cf. Titus 2:1-6). The effort required can be more intense in certain periods, such as when the personality is being formed during childhood and adolescence.