Friday, March 22

As we finish up this week on virtue, I am thinking about just how big moral excellence is.  It affects all areas of our lives - our speech, dress, actions, entertainment, and ultimately our attitudes.  Here in Boise, Roger has been reminding us that the real battle takes place between the ears.  Our thoughts and attitudes determine our actions (and reactions).  This is true for virtue as well.  Psalm 15 talks about this (emphasis mine):

Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

² He who walks uprightly,
    And works righteousness,
    And speaks the truth in his heart;
³ He who does not backbite with his tongue,
    Nor does evil to his neighbor,
    Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;

And...

As he thinks in his heart, so is he... Proverbs 23:7a

Hmmm... not sure how to change the margins back...or the font.  Oh well.  To continue...

Moral excellence will always be challenging.  I enjoyed reading Jennifer's post yesterday about women and how they feel powerless.  Do you see how that also is a mind issue?  The Bible tells us we have unlimited power to do what is good through Jesus:

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  Phil. 4:13

So putting the two passages together gives us our assignment for today.  Speaking the truth about yourself in your heart can be hard, sometimes.  Today take some time to ask God to open your eyes to your own moral excellence challenges.  Ask Him for help identifying them and working through them.  Then come up with a plan on how to deal with your issue.  You don't need to post your issue(s) but it might be nice to generically post your plan to give others ideas if you want.  When you have completed the assignment post "done."

Done.  I will be putting up verses around the house as a start.  Then I will be asking for God's help to overcome.  So, if you want to know what my issues are, just come over.  hahahaha

Thursday, March 21

What does purity look like in a woman's life?  We have discussed modesty and purity.  Every phase of life has its challenges in moral excellence.  I think it would be interesting to have a panel discussion with women in every phase to hear their individual challenges and their suggestions for overcoming the challenges.

Today your assignment is to think about what the challenges would be for someone like Ruth in her day, and then again someone like Ruth in our day.  What does a virtuous single business woman look like in today's world?  And, as always, give me a Scripture or two that you find helpful in working toward adding virtue to your faith.

Wednesday, March 20

Yesterday we looked at the importance of modesty in adding virtue to our faith.  Today we will look at the other part of Strong's definition: purity.  Of course modesty and purity go hand in hand.

What does it mean to be pure?  And how do we get there?  Think about the process of purifying gold.  All the IMpurities must be burned out, and I suppose if I were a hunk of gold that would hurt a bit.  I imagine it hurt Ruth a bit to be so pure at times.  What does a pure Christian look like?  I guess that would be Jesus.  What about a pure woman Christian?  She would act as Jesus would act in her situation, think like He would think, want what He would want, talk like He would talk...  Wouldn't it be great to be truly pure?  Are you willing to pay the price to get there?

Today's assignment:  Share two passages on purity and tell how you think they apply to Ruth.

Tuesday, March 19

So when I went to prepare for today's blog I realized I made a mistake yesterday.  I should have chosen Ruth for the virtue character.  It actually says she was a virtuous woman in Ruth 3:11.  Except for the example woman of Proverbs 31 who didn't actually exist, Ruth is the only woman called virtuous that I know of.  She also was a single, working woman; but she was a widow with an older woman in her care.

Strong's defines the word translated "virtue" this way:

1 a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action. 1A virtue, moral goodness. 2 any particular moral excellence, as modesty, purity.

Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

So once we have developed even a small amount of faith, the next step is to put that faith into action by developing moral goodness such as modesty or purity.  Modesty is a scarce commodity in today's society.  As we head into summer, it once again becomes an issue for ladies young and old.  There are many ways to be immodest, but an obvious one is dress.  I heard of a study done on young men which showed that anything above the knee was a temptation to them.  I haven't been able to document that; however, I have found several sources saying that anything above the knee is unprofessional because it is distracting.  Isn't that the same thing?  These same sources mention that low necklines and tight fitting clothes do the same thing. (To see for yourself, simply google "professional dress for women.")  What the world calls unprofessional, the Bible calls immodest.  The world says it's OK to be unprofessional outside of work.  But we never leave our profession of being a servant of God.

Today's assignment is to focus on this part of virtue.  Find two passages that speak about women being modest or immodest in some way.  Then think about Ruth and how your passages would apply to her.

Monday, March 18

Welcome to week three!  This week we will be looking at virtue, the first thing Peter says to add to our faith.  So let's begin by defining just what virtue means.  Our role model is Rahab - a single, professional woman.  (I know it wasn't a great profession, but we'll ignore that for now...)

Your assignment for today:  find a definition of virtue and read Joshua 2 to refresh your memory about Rahab.