Definitions/Themes/Examples
The Christian Virtues
Review
The Christian Virtues: Some brief and basic definitions
Faith – a disposition or tendency . . . to live in trust with God
Hope – " " to focus on the salvation of God
Love – " " to give of oneself for God
Prudence – " " to know what action is willed by God
Justice – " " to do the action willed by God
Temperance – " " to control the thought or action not willed by God
Courage – " " to face resistance to God’s will
Diligence – " " to work hard for God
Piety – " " to reverence God
Brotherly Love – " " to show affection for others
Modesty – " " to honor (and be shamed by) oneself
The Christian Virtues: Some Central Themes
The Christian virtues are qualities of character that dispose/incline the Christian to fulfill the purpose of his/her life, which is to live as God wills and thereby glorify God into all eternity.
The Christian virtues depend on the commands of God in Scripture to know what God wills, but virtues are qualities of the Christian character to be nurtured, not rules or commandments for life to be obeyed.
The Christian virtues lead toward life withGod through knowledge of Christ and the other gifts of God (so God is the final end of Christian virtue, as well as the beginning)
God is also the model for virtue. The virtues lead to a life with God by leading to a life like God.
Christian virtue is a reverent sharing in the excellence of God’s and Christ’s virtues: their steadfastness, vision, self-sacrifice, wisdom, rightness, holiness, and kindness, as well as Christ’s boldness, diligence and reverence for the Father.
Actions have consquences for virtues, and since good actions are the consequence of virtues, an bad action now impacts my abililty to do good later.
Since every action contibutes to our character, good practices are needed to develop the qualites of character that dispose and incline us to do God’s will. Virtuous character is formed by and leads to good habits,
The virtues are interdependent on each other, and while a virtue may especially contribute to another virtue (cf. 2 Peter 1), the virtues are unified both in purpose, source, and growth.
The Christian Virtues: Some Scenarios
Identify the virtue(s) that might be of special importance in the following scenarios:
1. Jill’s Christian husband has been unfaithful to her, but truly repented, and asked her to remain married to him.
2. Bob’s teenage son has fallen away from a Christian life and left home, cutting off contact from the family.
3. The leader in Sara’s home bible study is well-prepared and well-intentioned, but speaks with a stutter when he talks to the group.
4. Jennifer’s father has just died and her mother is planning to go to a lower quality “retirement home.”
5. Bob’s email filter is consistently permitting sexually explicit messages to come into his mailbox.
6. Laura’s daily routine is to watch television for an hour in the morning, at lunch, and just before her husband comes home.
7. Ann is single and lives in an area with a congregation where the only single Christian is faithful and loving, but not very attractive to her.
8. Bill’s has not had an opportunity to meet his new neighbors across the street, but there is an excellent Gospel meeting planned for his church next weekend.
9. Andy’s government has drafted him for a war against a country because the country is populated by a ethnic group which his political leaders judge to be “sub-human.”
10. Millie’s government has mailed her a tax-refund which has undoubtedly overpaid her.
11. Phil’s secretary consistently comments on how attractive he looks in his tailored slacks.
12. Tim’s wife has never complained about making dinner, cleaning the dishes, and putting the kids to sleep while Tim rests from his day at the office.
13. Margaret has not found lesson materials that teach younger women some of the hard lessons she has learned in life about being a Christian woman in the modern world.
Review
The Christian Virtues: Some brief and basic definitions
Faith – a disposition or tendency . . . to live in trust with God
Hope – " " to focus on the salvation of God
Love – " " to give of oneself for God
Prudence – " " to know what action is willed by God
Justice – " " to do the action willed by God
Temperance – " " to control the thought or action not willed by God
Courage – " " to face resistance to God’s will
Diligence – " " to work hard for God
Piety – " " to reverence God
Brotherly Love – " " to show affection for others
Modesty – " " to honor (and be shamed by) oneself
The Christian Virtues: Some Central Themes
The Christian virtues are qualities of character that dispose/incline the Christian to fulfill the purpose of his/her life, which is to live as God wills and thereby glorify God into all eternity.
The Christian virtues depend on the commands of God in Scripture to know what God wills, but virtues are qualities of the Christian character to be nurtured, not rules or commandments for life to be obeyed.
The Christian virtues lead toward life withGod through knowledge of Christ and the other gifts of God (so God is the final end of Christian virtue, as well as the beginning)
God is also the model for virtue. The virtues lead to a life with God by leading to a life like God.
Christian virtue is a reverent sharing in the excellence of God’s and Christ’s virtues: their steadfastness, vision, self-sacrifice, wisdom, rightness, holiness, and kindness, as well as Christ’s boldness, diligence and reverence for the Father.
Actions have consquences for virtues, and since good actions are the consequence of virtues, an bad action now impacts my abililty to do good later.
Since every action contibutes to our character, good practices are needed to develop the qualites of character that dispose and incline us to do God’s will. Virtuous character is formed by and leads to good habits,
The virtues are interdependent on each other, and while a virtue may especially contribute to another virtue (cf. 2 Peter 1), the virtues are unified both in purpose, source, and growth.
The Christian Virtues: Some Scenarios
Identify the virtue(s) that might be of special importance in the following scenarios:
1. Jill’s Christian husband has been unfaithful to her, but truly repented, and asked her to remain married to him.
2. Bob’s teenage son has fallen away from a Christian life and left home, cutting off contact from the family.
3. The leader in Sara’s home bible study is well-prepared and well-intentioned, but speaks with a stutter when he talks to the group.
4. Jennifer’s father has just died and her mother is planning to go to a lower quality “retirement home.”
5. Bob’s email filter is consistently permitting sexually explicit messages to come into his mailbox.
6. Laura’s daily routine is to watch television for an hour in the morning, at lunch, and just before her husband comes home.
7. Ann is single and lives in an area with a congregation where the only single Christian is faithful and loving, but not very attractive to her.
8. Bill’s has not had an opportunity to meet his new neighbors across the street, but there is an excellent Gospel meeting planned for his church next weekend.
9. Andy’s government has drafted him for a war against a country because the country is populated by a ethnic group which his political leaders judge to be “sub-human.”
10. Millie’s government has mailed her a tax-refund which has undoubtedly overpaid her.
11. Phil’s secretary consistently comments on how attractive he looks in his tailored slacks.
12. Tim’s wife has never complained about making dinner, cleaning the dishes, and putting the kids to sleep while Tim rests from his day at the office.
13. Margaret has not found lesson materials that teach younger women some of the hard lessons she has learned in life about being a Christian woman in the modern world.
posted by John | 4:49 PM
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