Virtue Makes Harmony of Life – Isidore C.U. Johnberchmans
The term virtue refers to moral excellence, the highest good, the social uprightness that evokes recognition, merit, and honour, according to J.D. Douglas & Merrill C, in “Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary.” According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, this means conforming to the highest standards of right. The first century Apostle Paul also used this term in his ministry (Philippians 4:8 & Galatians 5:22 – 23), referring to a life set apart, honourable, true and pure; a life filled with love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. It is from this lens, that this talk is laid, to express the factors that hinder christians from living virtuous lives, its effects on our lives and how to overcome it. Also, Etymologically, Thomas Aquinas a Christian theologian derived “virtue” from the same root as the Latin (man) and (power), suggesting that in its primitive sense virtue implied the possession of such masculine qualities as strength and courage and, in the moral order, of goodness and human perfection.
If virtue should mean the above, a simple contrast would present the opposite of the stated to be vice. The main idea for man’s mischievousness is the life of sin and its nature (Galatians 5:17). This according to the bible is a state where an individual’s life is under the influence of the desires and motives of his or her body, which go against God’s will. This state is attributed to the fallen state of man. After Adam, the first man had sinned in the garden of Eden, resulting into the contamination of all his generations with his original sin of disobedience. In the context of Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, when a person satisfies his desire to meet his wants, other than God’s results, he ends up in doing evil: engaging in sexual immorality, impurities, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfishness, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties and many more (Galatians 5: 19-21).
Whenever a person, whether a Christian or non-Christian gets involved in the aforementioned vices, they end up imposing a number of challenges and harm; both on themselves and others that surround them. First, to the one who is inhabited and influenced by this nature of sin, one who has not received Christ as Lord and saviour, there is a struggle with internal conflicts. Internal struggles between succumbing to what is right and what is wrong, end up throwing their victims into feelings of guilt as well as burdens in making moral choices. Guilt comes into play whenever they end up doing something that in the long run appears in their consciousness to be wrong to others or themselves. Time and time again, they face difficulties in making decisions, on the premise that they are uncertain of the right thing to do, which is pleasing to God and others, or to do the contrary
Again, this nature of sin, or a life that is misaligned with Jesus ends up in hurting other people. This hurting may both be physical as well as emotional. This is because there are some vices that when performed, leave the doer in some kind of suffering. For instance, through the letter of the Apostle Paul, we learn that sins such as sexual immorality, when performed, do not just end up being tagged as sin. Rather, sexual immorality leaves the performer’s body tied to the one they got involved in immorality with. Others term this as the formation of a soul tie (1 Corinthians 6:15 – 20). According to the enduring Word, casual sex is equal to robing God of his possession, our bodies—which are part of the temples and his church—and cleave them onto someone unclean. It’s the same as stealing from Him, and storing up elsewhere, where he never approved. The result is that we are supposed to bear the consequences of such disobedience. Conclusively, sexual immorality leads to death (Proverbs 9:13-18).
Lastly, living a life that is not based on the virtues that come along with the presence of the Holy Spirit, the vices mentioned above, which are as a result of the gratifications of the desires of the flesh, leads to eternal death (Galatians 5:19-21). In the book of Romans, chapter 7 verse 5, the lack of virtue is attributed to living a life under the influence of the sinful nature, the fallen state of man, before acknowledging Jesus as the saviour. Such a life, according to the same scripture results to death, or condemnation as others may call it.
Having looked at the source of a virtue-less life and its effects on human beings, there are some options against immorality that the bible provides to all believers. This is in quite contrast to the discussion above, the one about the cause of immorality, that is, living a life that is ordered by the Holy Spirit. Living by the spirit is first of all achieved after repentance of sins, returning to God and accepting and believing that Jesus is the Lord over one’s life for the forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38). The opposite of this is true, a life that lacks repentance of sin, results in spiritual death (2 Corinthians 7:10).
The second and assuring option is grace to live under the influence of this Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to come to his disciples when He was to go to the Father in heaven. This is because the Holy Spirit enables a Christian to live a life that Christ would have been living if He were to remain on the planet today. Jesus mentioned it himself that if the Father shall send the Advocate as his representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—He would teach us everything and would remind us of everything He told us (John 14:26). This shows that if we are led by the spirit, we are likely going to live as Jesus did, as the world’s best teacher ever did.
In conclusion, inculcating virtue is a value that pays not just the environment but in a special way, the person in question. The benefit of the person is bigger than what others and the environment gets as seen above through some scripture writers especially Apostle Paul. Remember, the pursuit of virtue involves both divine grace and intentional effort. Let us take some biblical icons as an example, Abraham’s unwavering faith in God’s promises, Moses’s obedience to God’s commands, David’s courage in facing Goliath, and his repentance after sinning with Bathsheba, Ruth’s loyalty, kindness, and commitment to her mother-in-law Naomi and several other bible characters. Whether drawing from Scripture or the wisdom of authors, let us strive for lives marked by virtue and love. Virtue remains a timeless pursuit, one that aligns our lives with higher principles and leads us toward goodness and holiness, and divine aid is essential for achieving Christlikeness. Without humility, virtues won’t gain much traction in our quest for a meaningful existence. The time spent in the ponder of vices, could be invested in practicing virtue.