A Return to Virtue

This is a Relief Society lesson I taught in early 2009.

A Return to Virtue—Elaine S. Dalton

        I.            What is virtue?

Virtue is defined as: goodness; power; general moral excellence; right action and thinking; goodness or morality; a specific moral quality regarded as good or meritorious; chastity, especially in women; excellence in general; merit, value; effective power or force; efficacy; potency; especially the ability to heal or strengthen

In Preach My Gospel, we learn this about virtue:

“Virtue originates in your innermost thoughts and desires. It is a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards. Since the Holy Ghost does not dwell in unclean tabernacles, virtue is prerequisite to receiving the Spirit’s guidance. What you choose to think and do when you are alone and you believe no one is watching is a strong measure of your virtue.

Virtuous people are clean and pure spiritually. They focus on righteous, uplifting thoughts and put unworthy thoughts that lead to inappropriate actions out of their minds. They obey God’s commandments and follow the counsel of Church leaders. They pray for the strength to resist temptation and do what is right. They quickly repent of any sins or wrongdoings. They live worthy of a temple recommend.” (page 118)

President James E. Faust said, “Many people do not fully understand the meaning of virtue. One commonly understood meaning is to be chaste or morally clean, but virtue in its fuller sense encompasses all traits of righteousness that help us form our character.”

Proverbs 31:10-12, 20, 25-27, 30:

10 ¶Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

 11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

 12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.  25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

 26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

 27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

What are some characteristics of a virtuous woman?

·         cares for her husband, her children, her household (stewardship)

·         willing to work

·         charity

·         strength

·         honor

·         wise

·         kind

·         fears God

      II.            Why is virtue strength? Why is a virtuous woman’s price far above rubies? What can a virtuous person do?

Sister Dalton said, “Virtue is a prerequisite to entering the Lord’s holy temples and to receiving the Spirit’s guidance. Virtue “is a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards.” ⁶ It encompasses chastity and moral purity. Virtue begins in the heart and in the mind. It is nurtured in the home. It is the accumulation of thousands of small decisions and actions. Virtue is a word we don’t hear often in today’s society, but the Latin root word virtus means strength. Virtuous women and men possess a quiet dignity and inner strength. They are confident because they are worthy to receive and be guided by the Holy Ghost.”

A virtuous person can have the Spirit, go to the temple, resist temptation, and set an example for others to follow

When you do those things, you increase God’s influence in your life and you decrease Satan’s influence in your life.

D&C 121:45-46 says:

45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.

 46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

A virtuous person can stand with confidence before God; I think she can also stand with confidence before Satan, knowing who she is and that God will assist her.

Sister Dalton said, “I truly believe that one virtuous young woman or young man, led by the Spirit, can change the world, but in order to do so, we must return to virtue.”

How can a virtuous person change the world?

Sister Dalton gave the example of the 2000 stripling warriors (Alma 53:20; see also Alma 56). As I was reading through this lesson, I thought of a line by Alfred Lord Tennyson that President Monson likes to quote: Sir Galahad, who was regarded as one of the best of the knights of King Arthur, said, “My strength is as the strength of ten/Because my heart is pure.” With the stripling warriors, their strength wasn’t in their bodies or in their youth; like Sir Galahad, their strength came from their purity and their absolute determination to have faith and follow God. And because they did that, their people as well as the Nephites were preserved.

Another example: Hyrum Smith

D&C 124:15 says, “And again, verily I say unto you, blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord.”

How did Hyrum Smith change the world? We focus on Joseph Smith and what he did a lot, but the Church needed Hyrum, too. Joseph needed Hyrum. Because he always did what was right, because he was virtuous, he was able to support Joseph in his mission here on the earth and also to fulfill his own.

    III.            So, if we’re supposed to change the world by being virtuous, how do we return to virtue?

Sister Dalton said, “What can each of us do to begin our return to virtue? The course and the training program will be unique to each of us. I have derived my personal training program from instructions found in the scriptures: “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.” ¹⁴ “Cleave unto [your] covenants.” ¹⁵ “Stand … in holy places.” ¹⁶ “Lay aside the things of [the] world.” ¹⁷ “Believe that ye must repent.” ¹⁸ “Always remember him and keep his commandments.” ¹⁹ And “if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, … seek after these things.” ²⁰ Now more than ever before, it is time to respond to Moroni’s call to “awake, and arise” and to “lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.” ²¹”

Let’s quickly look at some of those thoughts and discuss what they mean.

Let virtue garnish your thoughts: Are we having pure thoughts? What do we do when impure thoughts enter our minds? And remember, virtuous thoughts aren’t just chaste thoughts; if I think, “I can’t stand her,” that isn’t an unchaste thought, but it’s not a pure thought.

Cleave unto your covenants: Stop and think about the covenants you’ve made and if you’re really keeping them. Think about what you can do to keep them more fully. Pick something to work on.

Stand in holy places: This doesn’t just say not to be in unholy places; it says to stand in holy place. We need to make the effort to seek out holy places—to go to the temple, to make our homes holy, etc.

Lay aside the things of the world: Let’s look at our clothing, the media we consume, our language, our beliefs, etc. to see if there’s anything worldly we need to get rid of

Believe that ye must repent: We ALL need to repent, and it’s a blessing that we get to. So let’s examine ourselves and do it.

Always remember Him and keep His commandments: Think about the commandments, not just the Ten Commandments but all of them. Which ones do we need to do better and how will we do that? How often are we remembering our Savior?

Article of Faith 13: Seek out things that are virtuous. Just like we need to seek out holy places, we need to find things that are virtuous to fill our lives.

Awake and arise: Let’s pay attention! Satan tries to be very subtle and crafty in his work. He leads us astray a little at a time, by degrees. We need to constantly be aware of what we’re doing and who we are following.

Lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing: Get rid of anything evil or unclean. Don’t even touch it a little bit. Stay away from it.

I want to close with one last thought from Sister Dalton. She said, “Now is the time to prepare by exercising more self-discipline. Now is the time to become “more fit for the kingdom.” ¹³ Now is the time to set our course and focus on the finish. A return to virtue must begin individually in our hearts and in our homes.”

I’d like to testify that we can do this. We can return to virtue, and we can start today. We can each find ways to improve and as we do, we can be forces for good in the world. We are all daughters of God, and He needs us to be virtuous. The world needs us. I also want to testify that we are capable of doing so much more than we imagine. We can do all things with Christ, and that includes changing the world. The Lord loves us and He will help us to do the things He asks us to do. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.