Virtue

 

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” 

 

Singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffet may be “making the best of every virtue and vice” with his cheeseburger in paradise, but what exactly is a virtue? We do not use that term all that much anymore, but the Apostle Paul instructs us to meditate on any virtue we possess, so we need to know what one is. The Strong’s Concordance translates the English word “virtue” from the Greek word “aretē”, meaning (1) a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action; moral goodness. (2) any particular moral excellence, as modesty, purity, patience, et cetera. 

 

The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines “virtue” as: Moral goodness; the practice of moral duties and the abstaining from vice, or a conformity of life and conversation to the Moral Law of God. In this sense, virtue may be, and in many instances must be, distinguished from religion. Why you ask? Religion, in its most comprehensive sense, includes a belief in the being and perfections of God, in the revelation of His will to man, in man's obligation to obey his commands, in a state of reward and punishment, and in man's accountableness to God; and also true godliness or piety of life, with the practice of all moral duties from love to God and His law. It therefore comprehends theology, as a system of doctrines or principles, as well as practical piety. Godliness or “real” piety in practice; the practice of moral duties consisting in the performance of all known duties to God and our fellow men, in obedience to divine command from sincere love to God and His Laws is virtue and religion, as different branches of one system. In this sense it is true virtue, to truth. 

 

Matthew 5:46-47 “If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.”

 

The practice of moral duties merely from motives of convenience, or from compulsion, or from regard to reputation, is virtue, as distinct from religion because the practice of moral duties without a belief in a Divine lawgiver, a love of God and without reference to His will or commands, is not religion. Virtue can be a particular moral excellence also; as the virtue of temperance (moderation; particularly, habitual moderation in regard to the indulgence of the natural appetites and passions; restrained indulgence), as the virtue of chastity, or the virtue of charity. 

 

 In ethics, a vice is defined as any voluntary action or course of conduct which deviates from the rules of moral rectitude, or from the plain rules of propriety; any moral unfitness of conduct, either from defect of duty, or from the transgression of known principles of rectitude. Vice differs from crime, in being less enormous. We never call murder or robbery a vice; but every act of intemperance, all falsehood, duplicity, deception, lewdness, the excessive indulgence of passions and appetites, and the like, is a vice. 

 

Virtues and vices are choices. With godliness, choose virtue.

In Christ, Brian