The three hardest tasks in the world are neither physical feats nor intellectual achievements, but moral acts: to return love for hate, to include the excluded, and to say, “I was wrong.” – Sydney J. Harris

Before we get into the study of virtues–before we dig any deeper–let’s start out by examining what virtues are, and why they are important to our walk with God.

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 that those who believe in Jesus, believe He is Lord. Lord of the universe and Lord of our lives.

His wisdom exceeds ours, when it’s both comfortable and uncomfortable. On the good days and the bad. Those who love God are willing to give up every selfish ambition and every sinful desire to follow His will.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Matthew 16:24

This doesn’t mean that we walk perfectly by any means. That’s where the grace of God is vital to our faith. 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 weak. Join the club. It’s called humanity. Our flesh is constantly at war with our Spirit and there’s an ongoing battle to be won.

The important thing is that every time we fall, we have the opportunity to get back up again and get back in the race.

Leave the sin of the past behind you and focus on the road ahead. And if you fall? Pick yourself up and get back in the race.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:12-14, NIV

While we’re going through these virtues, keep this in mind: we aren’t perfect, but we’re being perfected by faith. We’re growing in grace. Learning what areas of our lives God is calling us to, and how to best set our sail.

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

3 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: 4 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. 5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 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.

And so we see that virtue is something we build on the foundation of our faith. It’s about being concerned about right and wrong as we seek to serve God.

I see faith as the driving force behind virtue. Faith powers our decision to change, virtue is the modification of our behavior as we conform our lives to our principles.

Virtue takes effort, values don’t.

Values are things that we deem as important. Virtues are characteristics of a person that come about by the way that we live. If we want to be patient, we must exercise patience. If we want to be self-controlled, we must exercise self control. And if we want to be kind, then we must show kindness to others.

The reason that we walk in virtue isn’t to earn ourselves brownie points, or to proclaim our goodness to the world. C.S. Lewis wrote, “Don’t shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see Him.”

Aspiring to be seen is in direct contrast to virtue which stems from a heart of humility.

I couldn’t begin to take credit for the good things I do. It’s the Holy Spirit that convicts me in the first place, and God that carries me through. Without Him I wouldn’t have any peace, I wouldn’t have hope, and I wouldn’t have joy. These are merely a few of the ways He equips us for the journey.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. – Philippians 2:13

Finally, how is virtue different than the fruit of the Spirit? In many ways they are similar because they are both characteristics of a Christ-centered life, but they differ in that one involves effort and the other is the result of that effort.

Virtue is two-fold. It can be defined as a quality or it can be defined as practice and conformity. What we’ll be looking at in this study is conforming our lives in accordance with Romans 12: 1-2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Would you like to add to this discussion? Please do so in the comments below.

(Subscribers click through to the blog to comment).

The schedule for this series
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2 – Purity Pt. 1
Week 2 – Purity Pt. 2
Week 3 – Self Control Pt. 1
Week 3 – Self Control Pt. 2
Week 4 – Discussing the Virtue of Love

You are loved by an almighty God,

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