Quotes

“Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life.” – Charlotte Mason

"To educate man is the art of arts, for he is the most complex and mysterious of all creatures." - Gregory the Theologian

Saturday, October 27, 2012

The Fourth Cardinal Virtue: Temperance


Temperance, the fourth and final Cardinal Virtue, deals with the inner-life of man--the battle that occurs in the human mind, will, and heart.  All of us are subject to certain passions: anger, greed, gluttony, depression, lust, etc.   When we are drunk with these passions, they subdue, enslave, and conquer us.  The person with temperance is the one who has gained by God's grace enough self-mastery to overcome these passions. 
Examples from scripture refer to temperance primarily as self-control and sober-mindedness: 
·         Like a city breached, without walls, is one who lacks self-control.[i]
·         Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one.[ii]
·         For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.[iii]
·         For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.[iv]
·         Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.[v]
If we lack sober-mindedness and self-control, we will experience the world through our passions, with dangerous consequences for ourselves and for our relationships with God and our neighbor.  We will also be subject to the entertainment and advertising industries, both of which make a careful study of manipulating human desires.  Having temperance means that our desires have been purified and we can enjoy God's good creation as we were truly designed to do.
 



[i] Proverbs 25:28
[ii] I Corinthians 9:25
[iii] 2 Timothy 1:7
[iv] Titus 2:11-12
[v] I Peter 5:8-9

No comments:

Post a Comment