I agree, ultimately only God can truly judge how significant a control you have over your own impulses. It seems like the significance of a sin depends on how strong or weak an individual is. People can become stronger of will over time but their struggle should count for something when coming to judgment.
Just as adultery would be a greater sin for me than for say a sex addict. I have much better control and should be able to resist with little effort. The addict on the other hand is a starving man at a banquet.
Absolutely right, and that's a long-held principle of moral theology. Sexual sins were regarded as among the least evil because those passions were so easily stirred up. Something like treason, which took malice and forethought, was far, far worse.
1 Cor 10:13 NIV: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
Either you believe the Bible or you don’t. Sometimes I wish I could edit the Word, but He provides a way out of that temptation also.