Quest for Virtue: Peace is the reward
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It seems as if our world is becoming more and more polarized. Those who could rightly be identified as financially wealthy grow in numbers, as do those millions who slide, in an ever-increasing number, below the line of poverty.
Ours is an era of information explosion but also a day when time-honored values and morality have slipped, perhaps to their lowest levels; our decency simply has not kept pace with our discoveries. Never have we had more easy access to the records of the past, but it appears that moderns are failing to learn the poignant lessons from the ancients, lessons that relate the sad tale of how they were crushed beneath the weight of their own pride, greed and immorality.
Nephi was shown in vision a time, presumably yet future to our day, when the whore of all the earth, the great and abominable church, would sit "upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people." Nephi also "beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth" (1 Nephi 14:11-12). Before the Lord of hosts returns in glory to assume leadership of the planet, rampant evil and perversion in Babylon will stand in stark contrast to the consummate righteousness and single-mindedness of Zion, the society of the pure in heart (Doctrine and Covenants 97:21).
Our world is in desperate need of a greater measure of virtue. Virtue is far more than moral cleanliness and chastity, although these are important manifestations. Virtue implies moral excellence — honor, integrity, courage, valor, valiance, inner purity, industry, diligence. A virtuous man avoids duplicity, knowing full well that "a double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). A virtuous woman has chosen to live in a manner that is consistent with what she has been taught and what she feels deep within her soul.
Jesus said simply, "I receive not honor from men" (John 5:41), and virtuous young people have learned to care precious little for the flattery of prominent persons. Virtuous people look to scripture, holy prophets, and wise and sagacious leaders for their direction, paying no heed whatsoever to the teasings and taunts of those who have taken up residence in the great and spacious building. Sodom and Gomorrah were void of virtue, while the Saints within the city of Enoch had allowed virtue to garnish [furnish, equip, adorn] their thoughts unceasingly, thereby growing in gospel confidence (Doctrine and Covenants 121:45) to the point where they were translated, taken from the earth into the bosom of God (Moses 7:69).
Like many of you, I find it extremely difficult to maintain virtue in my thoughts, desires, and actions in a world where the shoddy, the secondary and the seductive are paraded before us at every turn. There have been seasons, however, where I have felt a measure of success in doing so. May I make a few suggestions on how to acquire, treasure and maintain virtue in our lives, given, as Amulek taught so powerfully, that "this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors" (Alma 34:32). God our Father and His Beloved Son Jesus Christ are holy beings, and their plea and sacred invitation to us is: "Be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16).
1. Make a decision. We cannot afford to flip-flop between virtue and vice, between integrity and vanity. There is not time to take dangerous detours into forbidden territory, either out of curiosity or by design. Both Enoch and Joshua counseled the people of their day: "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve" (Moses 6:33; Joshua 24:15). If eternal life is what we desire; if the continuation of the family unit is what we long for; if peace and happiness here and a glorious reward hereafter is what we covet, then the price is virtue. It is a lifetime pursuit to become a virtuous man or woman, not a spiritual condition we can spring into suddenly or attain through spiritual marathons; like the oil in the lamps of life, virtue must be deposited one tiny drop at a time. But first we must decide what we want most. Then we must commit to our Lord to walk in His ways all the days of our lives.
2. Pray earnestly and regularly for forgiveness, cleansing and discernment. Our Heavenly Father is eager to grant wisdom to those who ask, seek and knock (Matthew 7:7; James 1:5). Our plea to the Almighty ought always to be what King David's was: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). And what greater wisdom could we obtain from heaven than the spiritual capacity to judge righteous judgment (JST, Matthew 7:1-2), to "search diligently in the light of Christ" and "lay hold upon every good thing" (Moroni 7:19)? Discernment is not just the ability to distinguish clearly between good and evil — as vital at that is — but also a divine endowment that equips us to perceive the difference between the unimportant and the important, the fanciful and the substantive, the secondary cause and the primary cause. With God's help we will be given eyes to see and hearts to comprehend.
3. Search out and cling to that which is noble, uplifting and truly beautiful in our world. Yes, there is much evil about us and much that is degrading to be avoided. There is also, however, literature and music and entertainment and natural beauty that lifts the soul and draws us closer to the divine. We are not called upon to bury our heads in the sand in order to escape from Satan's ploys and products. We should and must be aware of the vile and the degenerate and cannot afford to be naive; but we need not obsess over it. Isaiah declared that the person who will "dwell with everlasting burnings," meaning in the glory of the celestial kingdom, is he that "stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high" (Isaiah 33:15-16). Or, as the apostle Paul entreated us: "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, ... think on these things" (Philippians 4:8, emphasis added).
4. Scatter virtue wherever you go. Jesus called us as disciples to be the salt of the earth, to be a light to the world, to be different in order to make a difference (Matthew 5:13-14). You and I may not be able to settle the tensions in the Middle East, but we can settle the tensions in our home or neighborhood. We can be men and women of virtue and allow our influence to be as oil on troubled waters. You and I may not be able to prevent our world from plunging into a bloodbath, but we can bear witness, in word and deed, of the need to be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and enjoy the fruits of a virtuous life. We can model decency to the unbeliever and be an example of the believer (1 Timothy 4:12) to those who have come into the gospel covenant but not yet decided to consecrate fully their lives to Christ. Because "virtue cleaveth unto virtue" (Doctrine and Covenants 88:40), we can strive, with the Savior's divine assistance, to draw men and women to the abundant life (John 10:10), to point to the peace that comes from virtuous living, and to lead them to higher ground in the rest of our Redeemer.
Robert L. Millet is Abraham O. Smoot Professor at Brigham Young University.
