*A Lesson on Virtue
This week I was studying up on virtue
for one of our less active's lessons, and this is a little of what I've come up
with:
Virtue seems to be the state of
being whole, our capacity to accept God's power and goodness. In the
scriptures, virtue has never been given a comprehensive, full definition. It's
often paired with chastity, and it seems to go hand-in-hand with holiness. In Preach
My Gospel, virtue is explained to be the conscious action of rejecting
unwholesome thoughts and committing yourself to good ones. Virtue, in this
sense, seems to be the exercise of self-mastery (which is probably why it's so
often paired with chastity). Virtue does not come naturally. One must learn how
to be virtuous and put it into constant practice.
Its importance is mentioned in Mark
5. Christ describes virtue as his own power, which healed the woman who touched
his robes in faith.
2 Peter describes it as more of a
seed bed. While charity is the root of all the Christlike attributes, virtue is
the ground that allows it to grow. One cannot grow the godly attributes if one
does not provide the necessary rich earth of virtue to nourish them. In this
scripture, it seems to be the capacity to accept godliness.
Now, let:s put everything we know
together: Self-mastery, godliness, and the capacity to accept it. Virtue is
self-mastery. In Mosiah 4:19, it says that we must put off the natural man and
become a saint. The natural man is an enemy to God and has been from the fall of
Adam. It is the tendency of man to give in to his carnal desires and yield to
things of temporary gratification or carnal satisfaction. Because we are
creatures of flesh, we all have these desires. We were born with them. Virtue
is the casting off of the natural man--the peeling off of the heavy, rich, red
and gold robes of material worship and donning the white, airy robes of
eternity. We were all born on the ground. Virtue is how we learn to fly.
As we practice self-mastery in
casting off the natural man, there is no option for ourselves but to be
cascaded with godliness. The further we step from ourselves, the more we allow
God to pour down his power upon us. As Christ states, he is the light of the
world, and a city on a hill cannot be hid. As we accept the gospel and Christ:s
teachings more in our life, we cannot help but share it. The more one learns
and experiences the Atonement, which heals us of not only sin, but of weakness,
insecurity, sadness, injury, prejudice, bigotry, pride, and all the sorrow in
the world, the more one wants to tell others of this glorious news. There is a
Christ! Come, touch but his robe and you will be healed! This is not a gospel
for a handful of Americans in the Midwest--this is the God of Abraham, Isaac,
Africa, Japan. The earth is his footstool and his light is in all of us.
Learning how to arise and shine forth is a result of virtue.
As 2Nephi 28:30 states, God gives as
much as we receive, so it:s only natural that as we shuck the natural man, that
our efforts will be rewarded and rerewarded. As we demonstrate our capacity to
accept the light of Christ, our capacity will be doubled. If we embrace and
exercise it, that capacity will be tripled, and the more virtue we have, the
better we will be able to accept and exercise any other Christlike attribute.
That is virtue. As D&C 121
states, *Let virtue garnish your thoughts unceasingly; and then shall your
confidence wax strong in the presence of God.*
Love,
Sands Shimai
