Victory in Virtue: Intro

[…] and REPENT of all our sins, known and unknown. But besides that, is there anything more we can do?
We can cultivate the Virtues, and battle the Vices. That’s another thing we can do with the time we have left.

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Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Today I’m pleased to introduce the start of a new series here on my blog, Victory in Virtue. And what’s this series about? You can probably tell from the title, but I’ll explain it in detail below.

This will run longer than one of my demon miniseries, such as Cast Down Jezebel and the more recent Free from Ahab. I hope I can turn this series into a semi-regular feature here on the blog, because there’s a lot to talk about. I’m planning 18 posts to get this series started! So you’ll get used to seeing the name Victory in Virtue on my blog.

Now let’s look at what I have planned for the series.

What’s this Series about?

When this post goes live, it’ll be the 55th post I’ve made on this blog (so I’m not counting the Medium re-posts in my numbers). I’m more than halfway to my goal of 100 posts. When I look back on what I’ve written, I’m quite content with my work so far. Of course I seek to get better and better, but I’m also happy with what I’ve done.

But this new series is like “shifting gears” for me. It’s something new, something that I haven’t tried on this blog yet. Don’t worry, I will always be writing the Do Not Fear the End Times series. I will always have one End Times post per week, at the very least. But in my new Victory in Virtue posts, I’ll be going in a new direction.

I feel that most of the time I’ve done a decent job of getting my main point across, which of course is: Do Not Fear the End Times. Yes the world is ending, but do not fear. Put your trust in God and have faith that everything will be OK. We may die, but it’s OK, because God will create His new world and everything will be made right. There will be no more curse. The end of this fallen, corrupted world is not something to mourn. The end of this world is the end of demons—something to celebrate!!

And of course all the above messages come with the warning that we must do the only thing we can to get ready—we must REPENT. We must turn to the LORD in faith, confess our sins, and REPENT of all our sins, known and unknown. But besides that, is there anything more we can do?

We can cultivate the Virtues, and battle the Vices. That’s another thing we can do with the time we have left.

I decided that I could use my blog to present more solutions. I spend a lot of time writing about the problems, such as demons, witchcraft, and things like that. But I can spend more time writing about positive solutions that can help us all to become better Christians before Jesus Christ returns.

If we know He’s coming soon, and we put our faith in Him now, that’s a good thing. But since we still have some time left—how much time, no one knows for sure—we have no reason not to try our absolute best to become as righteous as we can. We can learn to cultivate the Virtues and practice them. Our quest to do this will help us draw closer to Christ, as long as we frame all these Virtues in a Christian context.

At the same time, we must beware the vices. We all have a vice, so we all have a battle to fight against at least one of these vices, usually more. We rely on Jesus Christ for our strength to fight these battles, but that does not mean we don’t have any role to play in this. As a matter of fact, there’s a great deal being asked of us when we seek to overcome these vices. To fight these battles most effectively, we need to know our enemy in-depth. We need to contemplate not only the Virtues but the Vices as well, so we can better avoid and defeat the Vices.

Most people are familiar with the seven deadly sins: Gluttony, sloth, lust, wrath, pride, envy, and greed. But these sins can take forms that we don’t always think about. For example, there’s a spiritual counterpart to all these deadly sins—i.e., spiritual pride, spiritual sloth, spiritual gluttony, and so on.** These sins can take forms we don’t suspect, so we need to use our God-given minds and the Holy Spirit’s discernment and stay alert. Not paranoid, but alert.

**These spiritual versions of the seven deadly sins are discussed in some detail in the classic book Dark Night of the Soul (AFFILIATE LINK) by St. John of the Cross.

So there, in a nutshell, is the aim of this new series, Victory in Virtue. I want to write about the Virtues and the Vices in depth, and encourage contemplation of them. I know from experience this can help to cultivate the Virtues and avoid the Vices. I know this because I myself have gotten closer to these Virtues by contemplating them. I’ve done that by following a repeating spiritual regimen, one which I’ll introduce here and also reference throughout the series.

The Virtuous Nine-Day Regimen

I follow a sort of ‘novena-type’ spiritual regimen centered around nine Virtues. This system of novenas is an influence from my former days as a Catholic. This used to be an actual novena that I used to pray—nine days of prayers, each one focused on one virtue. If you’re unfamiliar with what I’m saying, I’ll explain briefly.

Day 1 of the novena is the Virtue of Faith. The prayer for the day is about Faith, and is a request for that Virtue. Day 2 is Hope, with a different prayer for the day. Throughout the course of the day, I try to think about the day’s Virtue. I try to keep it in mind, and I try to put it in practice if possible. After Day 9, I start again with Day 1, and the cycle goes on forever.

The goal is for the day’s Virtue to be on my mind throughout the day, and not only when I say the prayers. I must tell you that I often fail at this, especially lately, and the Virtue is only on my mind when I say the day’s prayer. But ideally, the goal is to contemplate the Virtue throughout the day. When I’ve been able to do this, it’s been a great help in learning to practice these Virtues on a regular basis and making them more “real” by doing so.

I also keep a daily journal. The day’s Virtue is noted at the top of the journal entry. When I write my journal entry, sometimes I write about that Virtue, or if I was able to practice it that day, or other things I may think about it. Writing about the Virtues has also helped me to get closer to them, in fact it might be the most helpful thing I’ve ever done for cultivating these Virtues. So I also recommend keeping a daily journal, rotating through the daily Virtues, and writing something about each Virtue whenever it comes to mind.

I’m not saying I’m a Virtuous person now after doing this, because I’m not, I’m a sinner. So I’m also not telling you that following this contemplation and prayer routine will make you Virtuous either. Because it won’t. But I am saying that pondering these virtues on a regular basis, and especially writing about them, has been a great help in understanding them better. And the more we understand them, the better we can practice them. The better we can practice them, the more we can honor and glorify God.

Let’s be Virtuous!

Coming Right up

So now I hope you have some idea of what this new Victory in Virtue series is about, and why I’m writing it. If you’re still unclear, I’m sure it’ll all make more sense as I move forward with the series. And on that note, here’s an outline of what I’m planning to write (and pretty much in this order):

The Virtues

• Faith
• Hope
• Charity
• Piety
• Prudence
• Justice
• Fortitude
• Temperance (with a close look at Sobriety too)
• Self-Discipline
• Chastity/Monogamy
• Patience

The Vices

• Gluttony (and Spiritual Gluttony)
• Sloth (and Spiritual Sloth)
• Lust (and Spiritual Lust)
• Wrath (and Spiritual Wrath)
• Envy (and Spiritual Envy)
• Pride (and Spiritual Pride)
• Greed (and Spiritual Greed)

Now, what will I write about after these posts are finished? I don’t know yet. I may end the series there, but probably not. There are always more Virtues and Vices we can think about. Always more topics to write on. I’ll probably leave the series open for a return at any time.

But that’s getting ahead of myself! I count 18 posts right here, in this list. That’s a great start right there … and a great deal of writing. So I have my work cut out for me, but I’m sure I’m going to enjoy it. Time for me to get started!

I hope and pray you’ll enjoy the new series on my blog, Victory in Virtue. I’m starting on Wednesday with the first Virtue, Faith. Subscribe to my FREE blog newsletter using the link below so you won’t miss a post!

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Until next time, be strong and do good!

Your new best friend in Christ,

99:9

<<<EXALT THE LORD OUR GOD AND WORSHIP AT HIS HOLY HILL; FOR THE LORD OUR GOD IS HOLY>>>

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