Tag: Love

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The Cardinal Virtues for the Christian Life, Part 3: Practical Wisdom

If anyone was community-minded in our nation’s history, it was Martin Luther King, Jr. He rightly sought the correction of the many injustices inflicted upon African-Americans. But his vision was larger than that. He wanted a better community for everyone. As he said, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of George the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood” (The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., 260). He called this vision the “beloved community.”

His concern for justice was not limited to African-Americans alone. He understood that injustice degrades not only those who suffer from it but also those who perpetrate it. As he wrote, “We do not seek to remove this unjust system for ourselves alone but for our white brothers as well. The festering sore of segregation debilitates the white man as well as the Negro” (ibid. 145). If that was the goal, what was required to reach it? He needed a lot of practical wisdom both to counteract injustice and to bring people together.

The Need for Wisdom
Anyone who sincerely seeks the good of the community quickly discovers that good intentions are not enough. We need practical wisdom—wisdom to see both the goal and the right means to achieve it.

That is precisely what the Apostle Paul prayed for the church in Philippi. He knew they had love, a genuine affection for the community. What they needed was wisdom to direct that love well. He wrote:

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God (Phil. 1:9–11).

Let’s take this apart. First, Paul wanted them to bear good fruit. That means he wanted them to do and experience genuine good—for themselves, for others, and ultimately for the glory of God. Continue reading “The Cardinal Virtues for the Christian Life, Part 3: Practical Wisdom”

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The Cardinal Virtues for the Christian Life, Part 2: Community-Mindedness (Justice)

At 15, Charles Spurgeon was driven by a snowstorm into a small chapel. There, he heard the good news about Jesus and gave his life to Christ.

By his 19th birthday, he had become a preacher at New Park Street Baptist. Seven years later, the congregation moved to the 5,000-seat Metropolitan Tabernacle. Four years after that, in 1865, he began publishing a monthly magazine that would help thousands process the truth.

Spurgeon connected deeply with God, but he was also a profoundly community-minded man. He believed faith was meant to be public—to shape lives, institutions, and cities.

Community-Mindedness and Moral Excellence
Community-mindedness is the beating heart of virtue. Virtue is not private. There is no season of “working on yourself” first and then developing communal virtue later. The two must grow together. Virtue is communal. Period.

This is really what the ancients meant (and more) when they talked about “justice” as a cardinal virtue. Doing good isn’t just about ourselves. It is about our community. That’s why I’ve described it as community-mindedness. “Justice” can seem too transactional, as if we only have to care about our neighbor when some wrong is committed and needs to be corrected in court. The concept is much broader: thinking of the community all the time.

The Bible reflects this view of moral excellence and virtue. Peter explains that we are to add to our faith virtue, and that this virtue leads us to mutual affection for one another and to a general love that reaches out to all people (2 Peter 1:7). Moral excellence inevitably moves outward.

The Apostle Paul described this same posture in his letter to the Roman church. Addressing differences within the body, he wrote, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves” (Romans 15:1). He then grounded this in a larger principle: “Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up” (Rom. 15:2). This is community-mindedness. We do not simply think about what is good for ourselves. We consider what is good for everyone.

This is the pattern Jesus Himself showed. “For Christ did not please Himself . . .” (Rom. 15:3). His life was consistently oriented toward the needs of others, toward the good of the community—not His own comfort or ease.

What does this look like in practice?
What does it actually look like to think and live this way?

Here are a few concrete expressions: Continue reading “The Cardinal Virtues for the Christian Life, Part 2: Community-Mindedness (Justice)”

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Becoming a People Fit for Fellowship with the Triune God

The Life We’ve Always Wanted

What if we could live in fellowship with God so deeply satisfying that every other desire, need, and hurt receded into the background?

I recently read the story of Brian “Head” Welch, the lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Korn. He had everything—fame, money, and every indulgence that success could buy. Then, in 2005, he left it all behind. Why? Because he found something better: Christ. That is what true fellowship with God can do. It gives us something richer than everything else combined.

Jesus called this “eternal life.” He said, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). According to Jesus, real life consists in communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is life lived in fellowship with God Himself.

We Need to Change to Experience It

Eternal life is a gift of grace that we do not deserve (Rom. 6:23). It is freely available to all—no matter where we have been or what we have done. God stands ready to receive us. His character does not change. But we must change if we are to enjoy His life.

What kind of people must we become in order to live this life of fellowship? Three characteristics mark those who are growing into it:

  • God awareness
  • God-rooted confidence
  • Godward affection

These qualities are not something we produce by sheer effort. The good news is that all who have received God’s gift of life are “being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). This is the Spirit’s ongoing work.

Yet we are not passive in it. Scripture calls us to lean into what God is already doing: “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Phil. 2:12–13). Paul holds together the mystery of divine and human agency in spiritual transformation with perfect balance.

Let us consider these three characteristics more closely and how we can participate in God’s transforming work that conforms us to Christ.

Continue reading “Becoming a People Fit for Fellowship with the Triune God”

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Loving God the Most: Lovers of God Rather Than Lovers of Pleasures

There are so many good things to enjoy in this life that we can readily make them the focus of our lives: food, sex, alcohol, movies, etc. These pleasures are so powerful that Jesus warned that “life’s worries, riches and pleasures” are like weeds and thorns that choke the good plant of the Word of God in our lives (Luke 8:14). We easily become “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim. 3:4).

Pleasures easily become our masters. Paul describes the life before Christ as one in which we were “deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures” (Tit. 3:3). People become slaves to pleasures. They sacrifice their health, their relationship with God, their relationship with people, and their fortunes to these things.

Because of the power of these pleasures, some people make the opposite error. They get focused on rules prohibiting these pleasures. The problem is that this often produces a focus on these pleasures just as intense. Religion becomes all about avoiding these things rather than a change of the heart.

In addition, God created these pleasures to be enjoyed. Enjoying the good things of this world is not just an option. It is a commandment. The Apostle Paul wrote that these are things “God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer” (2 Tim. 4:3b–5).

How do we learn to receive these pleasures in a good way that doesn’t make us lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God? How do we avoid becoming enslaved by them? Continue reading “Loving God the Most: Lovers of God Rather Than Lovers of Pleasures”

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Loving God the Most: Working for God Instead of Work as God

One of the greatest blessings that humans can enjoy in this world is to be able to do work that blesses oneself and others and glorifies God. When God made Adam, He did not want him to sit passively in front of a beautiful creation. God wanted him to discover its latent possibilities and do work to bring out those possibilities to show forth the beauty and usefulness of creation.

The Bible’s view of work is positive. The author of Ecclesiastes says that in spite of the effects of the fall on work, “[t]hat each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God” (Eccl. 3:12). In the Proverbs, Solomon commends hard work: “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense” (Proverbs 12:11). Work is such a blessing that even slaves can see themselves as doing something unto God when they are working: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters . . .” (Col. 3:23). Even if you don’t get paid what you deserve, the Lord will ensure that you get a reward for your labor.

On the other side, the Bible condemns those who won’t work. Paul warned the Thessalonians against idleness: “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody” (1 Thess. 4:11–12). He also said, “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat'” (2 Thess. 3:10).

So, work is a blessing, and it is a necessity. Every human being is called to work, and there is great delight in work. To be able to raise and prepare food for people is aiding people with their most basic needs. The labor it takes to raise a child is crucial to human flourishing. Discovering ways to do things more efficiently empowers more productivity and frees people for greater labor. Cleaning an office makes it usable and a blessing to those who are a part of it. So, it is with all honest labor. It is a blessing and God-approved.

The Right Way to Work
However, we must labor in the right way. In terms of God, we must all learn to work for Him and not human masters. We should work “as unto the Lord.” We work unto the Lord. Continue reading “Loving God the Most: Working for God Instead of Work as God”

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