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Bible Study – “A Virtuous Life” – Introduction

April 18, 2016 /

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FAQ: How do I participate in this study? 

It’s simple. If you haven’t done so already, download a copy of the FREE Bible study guide. You’ll find the download further down this page.

On Mondays I’ll have new printables for you (see links below) including scripture cards, questions, week-at-a-glance, and a coloring page. Friday is a recap of the week, and my thoughts on the study.

During the week, you’ll study at home, following the outline of the study guide.

In addition to my posts here, you can find me on Facebook. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I’ll post my journal entries and share my thoughts. I’ll also open up the discussion for you to share your thoughts.

Here is a link to my facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/timewarpwife

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Introduction: What is Virtue, And Why is it Important?

 

First and foremost, we’re saved by grace. There’s nothing that we can do to earn our salvation. Salvation has been imputed to us by God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

The thing is however, those who believe in Jesus believe He is Lord—Lord of the universe and Lord of their lives. His wisdom exceeds ours; when it’s both comfortable and uncomfortable, on the good days and bad. Those who love God are willing to give up every selfish ambition and every sinful desire to follow His will.

Virtue is all about our behavior. It’s an act of yielding our lives to our principles, which is not always easy, but always rewarding. There’s a will to do good in every one of us, but whether or not we choose to exercise and develop that goodness determines our character.

This doesn’t mean that we walk perfectly by any means. That’s where the grace of God is vital to our faith. It’s by the grace of God that we’re saved through faith in Jesus Christ. So while I’m not perfect, I can rest in the knowledge that my Redeemer is!

We all struggle in this world. We all have good intentions, but our flesh keeps pulling us back. Have you ever made a decision to do something worthwhile? Maybe you wanted to change a bad habit or incorporate a new one. A few days in, you gave up. Even though you knew that this was a good decision for you, you messed up (again) and you’re down on yourself because you’re weaker than you hoped you would be.

It’s called being human. Our flesh is constantly at war with our Spirit and there’s a battle to be won. The important thing is that every time we fall, we have the opportunity to get back up again, leave the sin of the past behind, and focus on the road ahead.

We’re growing in grace. We’re learning what areas of our lives God is calling us to, and how to best set our sail.

Peter chapter 1 is key to this study. Here we see that we’re called to glory and virtue:

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. – 2 Peter 1:3-8, KJV

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife

P.S. See the colouring page below? Come back here on Friday to continue our study on “A Virtuous Life.” I’ll have another colouring page for you then!

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ONLINE RESOURCES: 

These are my favourite online Bible study tools!

Bible Gateway – Every version you can imagine is online
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible
Looking for an easier commentary? Here’s the Concise Version
Other commentaries you might prefer
Interlinear Bible – I love this one!
Blue Letter Bible – Dig into the Hebrew and Greek
Bible Word Search

 

THIS WEEK’S RESOURCES

WEEK AT A GLANCE

Click here to download this week at a glance.

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STUDY QUESTIONS

Click here to download this week’s study questions.

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COLORING PAGE

Click here to print this colouring page. Come back on Friday for another one!

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FREE BIBLE STUDY GUIDE

click the image to view and download, or click here

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PRAYER JOURNAL
(an OPTIONAL addition to the study) 

Click here to peek inside on Amazon (affil link)

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Peek inside 30-Day Prayer Journal Virtue Edition:

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SCRIPTURE CARDS – 7 per week – 28 in total

Click here to view and print this weeks cards:

Week 1 – Page 1  |  Week 1 – Page 2

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43 Comments

  • Kezia Seamans

    April 18, 2016 at 6:42 am

    I would like to join this study please, but not sure if I need to reg. or do we just follow along? Can you please clarify? Thank you

    • Pamela Brown

      April 18, 2016 at 10:13 am

      Hey Kezia
      I am encouraging 3 of my friends to do this Bible study together. We downloaded the study guide and I bought the journals off of Amazon. We are going to meet every Monday for 4 weeks. To share and read the Bible together.eat a little fellowship allittle and color a little. I pray these next 4 weeks will be enlightening for you and for us as we follow this study. It looks like it will be great. That is how we are doing it. Just following her study. I pray you will be blessed also.
      Pam

  • Shelley Ward

    April 18, 2016 at 8:59 am

    I’m ready to get started!! I have everything all organized in a binder and I will print off all the resouces as they are posted! I am really looking forward to this bible study 🙂

  • Shelley Ward

    April 18, 2016 at 9:04 am

    I have everything all organized in a binder and I am going to print off the resources as they are posted! I am so excited to be part of this very first bible study!! Thank you so much for all the effort you put into it. God Bless you!!

  • Jamie

    April 18, 2016 at 10:28 am

    FAQ: How do I participate in this study?

    It’s simple. If you haven’t done so already, download a copy of the FREE Bible study guide. You’ll find the download further down this page.

    On Mondays I’ll have new printables for you (see links below) including scripture cards, questions, week-at-a-glance, and a coloring page. Friday is a recap of the week, and my thoughts on the study.

    During the week, you’ll study at home, following the outline of the study guide.

    In addition to my posts here, you can find me on Facebook. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I’ll post my journal entries and share my thoughts. I’ll also open up the discussion for you to share your thoughts.

    Here is a link to my facebook page:

    http://www.facebook.com/timewarpwife
    – See more at: https://timewarpwife.com/bible-study-a-virtuous-life-introduction/#sthash.ruIdK460.dpuf

  • Linda McClellan

    April 18, 2016 at 11:21 am

    I think of how all through my life what would I do if I didn’t have grace. I’m human and I’m a sinner which means I don’t do what I want to do and when I try I fail. I think Peter said something similar to that. I definitely fail our Lord and ask Him for forgiveness and I trust him to forgive me and I know He will and I try to change my ways and not repeat that wrong or failing to do as I should. I would love to do and behave as Jesus all my life but it’s a lifelong teaching by the Lord and I thank Him that he has patience with my failings. I am so looking forward to this study Darlene and I plan to do my very best to be a virtuous wife.

  • Erika Morris

    April 18, 2016 at 11:26 am

    I am so happy for this wonderful beginning! I am from Mexico and my first language is Spanish, so I am doing “A virtuous life” in Spanish and is awesome how God helps me through this very first day! I am so looking for the rest of this journey and see what God wants to teach me and what I will learn from Him, his will and his HEART. Thank you very much.

  • Elisa Rodriguez

    April 18, 2016 at 11:45 am

    I am very excited for this new bible study. I could not have come at a better time in my marriage. I think this will be a wonderful asset to my marriage and an aid that will my guide on how to become a better person and in turn a better wife. I enjoyed all the resourced you made available to us, Darlene. Although I am a sinner I am relieved to know that I have God’s grace to forgive me and redeem me. To make me new again. Every day is a new beginning for me and I thank you for taking the time to put this together. May God continue to bless you I will be praying for you and for all of the ladies eho joined this study, and I ask that you pray for me too.

  • Elisa Rodriguez

    April 18, 2016 at 11:46 am

    I am very excited for this new bible study. I could not have come at a better time in my marriage. I think this will be a wonderful asset to my marriage and an aid that will my guide on how to become a better person and in turn a better wife. I enjoyed all the resourced you made available to us, Darlene. Although I am a sinner I am relieved to know that I have God’s grace to forgive me and redeem me. To make me new again. Every day is a new beginning for me and I thank you for taking the time to put this together. May God continue to bless you I will be praying for you and for all of the ladies who joined this study, and I ask that you pray for me too.

  • Jillian Abbott

    April 18, 2016 at 2:03 pm

    Hello! I registered on Saturday to do this Bible study and received the email to confirm that I registered but I never received any email today to actually begin the study. Wasn’t I suppose to? Just curious! Looking forward to it!

  • Stella Cablee

    April 18, 2016 at 6:16 pm

    I don’t have a coper. But I plan on reading what you have on here. I love to learn more and more about our Savior. Thank you for doing this and bringing more of Gods love into our lives.

  • Kathy Chapman

    April 18, 2016 at 6:24 pm

    Hey My name is Kathy I too is doing this Bible Study. But I’m stuck on the first question help pls thanks

  • Danette Hill

    April 18, 2016 at 10:00 pm

    Enjoyed the lesson. There is a great need for women to foster and harbor the virtues that God placed in our hearts and souls! Looking forward to day 2. Good solid instruction! God bless you in your efforts for Our Blessed Savior.

  • Ruth Guzman

    April 18, 2016 at 10:06 pm

    I’m excited in joining this study group on virtue. See how I was able to learn and apply this lesson to my everyday life. I know that this will allow me to grow in my walk with Jesus.

  • Robin Gummert

    April 19, 2016 at 9:34 am

    I am enjoying digging deeper into the book of Esther. This is one book that I haven’t really paid that much attention to, sorry to say! Already I am focusing on looking to God first before jumping into something with both feet!
    Thank you Darlene for helping us all on our walk with the Lord to grow as Godly women.

  • Susanne

    April 19, 2016 at 3:01 pm

    Dear Darlene.
    This new Bible Study is so wonderfully arranged.
    I will do what I can to follow along.
    Love from Susanne.

  • Angela Hjertstedt

    April 19, 2016 at 7:05 pm

    I’m thankful for this!! Such an amazing study. How beautiful to see how God uses us when we do things HIS way…not trying to take control, but to rest in Him, and follow His prompting. So amazing to think what would have happened had Esther not seized her calling for ‘such a time as this’….or tried to side step things and take a shortcut from how God was leading her. Had she only had one dinner instead of waited for the second one, it wouldn’t have given God time to get the king’s attention and lead him to read thru the record book in the middle of the night and discover how Mordecai had helped him. It is God who promotes, in His timing! So thankful to have the example of Esther to follow!! Thank you for this study.

  • Traci Wells

    April 20, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    I had a big decision to make at work and an important meeting to discuss this with my boss today. I thought about how prepared Esther was before her audience with the king, so before I went into the meeting I prayed about it. That is very new for me. It gave me peace and confidence to proceed.

  • Vicki persinger

    April 21, 2016 at 8:36 am

    This is an amazing study,I have not done one online but am really enjoying it a lot, can’t wait for the next weeks to come, thanks, blessings to all who have joined in this study. Vicki

  • Catherine Cortes

    April 27, 2016 at 12:14 am

    Hello I just received your quieting your heart journal book as a gift! Is it too late to register for the virtuous life bible study? Or can I just start it now? I would need to download the material here in above links correct? And use my journal?

  • Dani

    May 16, 2016 at 11:43 am

    Hi, am I able to do this study with a bunch of ladies online? Thank you so much for the free resources.