One of God’s callings for each of us is to be virtuous. Here is part one of the series “Fourteen Qualities of a Virtuous Woman:” What is Virtue?
As Christians, God has called us to be set apart from the world. We’re not to do this for our own gain and praise, but to bring glory to the Lord. But how do we do this? More specifically, how do we do this as women? What are traits that Christian women should strive to have to make them stick out from other women? Of course, the Bible lays out many characteristics that its followers should have, but one that not many people talk about is the word “virtue.”
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”2 Peter 1:5-8
Virtue. According to this passage in 2 Peter, it is one of the foundations of your faith and life as a Christ-follower. I don’t know about you, but it’s not a word I hear often nowadays. Whether that’s because we’ve chosen to skip right over it, or because there aren’t many things that we can truly call “virtuous” anymore, I don’t know. But either way, that needs to change.
A couple years ago, I read a book by Nancy Wilson titled Virtuous: A Study for Ladies of Every Age. I love pretty much every book she has written, but that one is one of the best books on Christian womanhood that I’ve read. You can probably guess by the title, but in it, she goes through a number of biblical virtues.
Because I love that book so much, I want to go through each of those virtues on here. Of course I’m not going to be as extensive as she is because I hope you still read the book for yourself. But I want to share the things I’ve learned because I think that being a virtuous woman has become a lost art in today’s culture.
Before we get into the specific fourteen qualities of a virtuous woman, we need to define what virtue is in the first place.
what is virtue
Nancy says, “A virtuous woman is a woman who exhibits godly character traits. So virtue is about ethical behavior, and it’s about our character. The outside (the good things we do) must spring from what’s inside, and those two must be consistent.”
In order to truly be virtuous, not only do our outward actions need to be good, but so does our inward character. If we have a bad character, we will only be able to fake those good actions for so long. More importantly, our virtue doesn’t come from mere action. Where it really comes from is from our character.
character
The doctrines of total depravity and original sin say that human beings are fallen and sinful. This means that on our own, we are lost, not good, and separated from God. There is nothing we can do to change that. In fact, without God first planting a seed in our heart, we would never search for Him on our own.
But, thanks to the grace of God through Jesus Christ, we are able to reunite with Him. However, this reunion is not a result of anything we did, but only of what God did. Naturally, our flesh does not seek God. In fact, it doesn’t really want anything to do with Him because the things of God directly oppose the things of the flesh. He will save us and sanctify us, and then we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that will direct our paths and lead us down the one that will help us to be more like Christ. It will wage war on our fleshly desires so that we don’t succumb to them anymore.
virtue comes through a renouncing of the self
However, at this point, we do have work to do. The Holy Spirit can win against our flesh, but we have to let it. And not only do we have to let it, but we also have to actively choose it and work towards making that choice easier. The only way this can happen is if we fully give ourselves to God and His will. In order to let the Holy Spirit overcome our flesh, we have to renounce ourselves and those fleshly desires that come so naturally to all of us. When we are actively pursuing God and filling our minds with Scripture, He will change our desires to those that align with His.
In another book that I’m currently reading which is a modern translation of John Calvin’s A Little Book on the Christian Life, the authors speak on something similar to this. It says, “Once self-denial has occupied the heart, it crowds out the evils of pride, arrogance, and pretentiousness as well as greed, lust, gluttony, cowardice, and everything else that is born of self-love. On the other hand, where self-denial does not reign, the worst vices thrive shamelessly. Or, if there is any semblance of virtue, it’s corrupted by a depraved desire for glory. No man wants to freely do what is right without first renouncing himself according to God’s command. Those who haven’t been overcome by this sense of need for self-denial have followed virtue for the sake of praise.”
a continual process
Part of the way God will align our desires with His is by giving us a sense of need for self-denial. You can’t follow both God and yourself at the same time. As God continues to sanctify you, you become more and more aware of the fact that you need to put your own desires away and follow Him.
But being saved and sanctified doesn’t automatically mean that this will all come easy and will be there forever. It is a continual process. A continual process of sanctification on God’s end. And a continual process of self-denial and pursuit of virtue on our end.
Feminine virtue has influence & moral authority
In the book of Ruth, Boaz says, “All the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.” The Hebrew word that was originally used was the feminine equivalent of a phrase translated “man of great wealth.” A man of great wealth during that time was one who had a ton of influence and authority throughout the town. Likewise, a virtuous woman is a woman who has great influence and moral authority.
Proverbs 12:4 says that, “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband.” The term “an excellent wife” is translated literally as “a wife of valor.” What does this mean? It means that an excellent wife, i.e. a wife of valor or a virtuous woman, is one who has a little bit of manly courage. This doesn’t mean that she is masculine. It just means that she holds firm to her morals and values, and influences other women well.
the fourteen qualities of a virtuous woman
So, what are the fourteen qualities of a virtuous woman? Over the next couple months, I will be sharing each of them in detail. But for now, here’s a quick list:
- Diligence
- Cheerfulness
- Contentment
- Prudence
- Wisdom
- Humility
- Courage
- Kindness
- Loyalty
- Chastity
- Modesty
- Gratitude
- Domesticity
- Patience
Feel free to look into these character traits on your own and start implementing them into your lives. But don’t forget to check back here next week to read all about being diligent as a Christian woman.
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