Interestingly enough, the word virtue, which stems from the word of ancient Latin virtus, actually symbolizes manliness or courage. Virtues are habitual, firm dispositions to do good. Following a set code of morals in line with the law of God and man has numerous benefits, among them being that one who tries to strive in virtue can share and experience happiness with others on a deeper level, one’s conscience makes a person feel good on the inside, and one can become an exemplar to his fellow human beings especially as a role model to young people.
1 – Love
“Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away.” – Song 8:7
As such a small word, love is also a universal concept, yet it has numerous meanings often bringing a lack of full understanding of the virtue. It’s an important virtue as Jesus Himself said, “This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). It is actually rather simple to understand but at times not so easy to follow. There are, in fact, four different types of love and they are named with the Greek words: storge, philia, eros, and agape.
The greatest Christian virtue is love of God. This virtue allows people to show charity toward their fellow human beings. Storge is the love for persons or things close to oneself; philia is the love of friends; eros is sexual love and that of a spiritual nature; agape is the giving of self to someone in need. Love of your hometown is likely an example of storge. A fondness of spending time with good friends is a form of philia. Love between spouses is eros. Giving food to a starving man in need is agape. Christian charity is love, but not all love is true charity. How do we try to characterize love even further? We don’t have to look far.
The Bible gives us a beautifully written, poetic definition of Christian love: “Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited; it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage; it does not take offense or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. Love never comes to an end. But if there are prophecies, they will be done away with; if tongues, they will fall silent; and if knowledge, it will be done away with” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8).
2 – Courage
Today’s pop culture frequently depicts our favorite fictional heroes carrying out great courageous endeavors, overcoming fears, or evolving from the scared, anxious type into a fearless leader. Well, we all should know that fantasy stories and therefore much of the popular culture overdramatizes many points.
Courage is not necessarily going into battle against a larger force of enemies. It need not be so glorious or desperate as that. No. True courage is much simpler. It is living out our lives every day whatever our lot may be, whether your situation be boring, engaging, dangerous, whatever.
Courage is accepting that burden, that cross, while hoping in our Creator and without having fear.
Jesus Christ is of course the perfect model of all virtues including courage. He willingly took on all the pain associated with His cruel crucifixion and death. He overcame death. What amazing courage does it take to sacrifice one’s own life for the ones he loves? In all ways, we are to imitate the life of Jesus.
3 – Forgiveness
Forgiveness is a product of love. People offend us and/or hurt us physically or emotionally, and sometimes those people are our closest loved ones, yet they seem to occasionally disregard others’ personal feelings. So what should we be doing when our love or trust with another is damaged?
For starters, don’t stop loving – anyone. One who has broken a shared bond of trust and love has most likely acted out of pride and selfishness. If you do not forgive that person, you are being just as selfish; you would be judging a fellow human being. Judging people is a task for God alone. In addition, if you don’t forgive someone, you are pretty much making a statement that you consider your feelings and problems to be more severe than those of any fellow human being.
In other words, you’re being just as self-centered as any person that broke a bond of mutual trust with you. You need to forgive and give the loved one another chance. Even God will forgive our transgressions against Him if we are sorry. Forgiveness to others is a Godly practice. As the “Our Father,” the prayer Jesus Christ gave us, states: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
4 – Temperance
Temperance is the moderation of attractiveness of worldly pleasures, balancing the use of created goods. That’s the professional definition. The idea of practicing this particular virtue is to be able to filter the amount of unnecessary pleasures, such as those of the flesh. We are going to be tempted.
The world and some of the people in it have a lot to offer us, much of it leaving us feeling empty when we’re finished. We just keep searching for the next greatest high to stimulate our senses and emotions.
As human beings, creatures with souls and bodies, we have been gifted with the bodily senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Like anything, senses and the things which gratify them can and are (too often) overused and abused. Crumpets, soda, and chocolate chip cookies might all be good in and of themselves, but eating them with every meal is not healthy! God wants people to do things in moderation including food, drink, love, and work. God wants us to take care of our bodies and lead happy lives.
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