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Christian Values

OR

Virtues in the Bible

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Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things.
(Philippians 4:8)

But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.
(James 1:22)

GODLINESS

[ Mt 6:33, 1 Ti 4:8 ]

Faith [ Mt 17:20, Ac 20:21, Heb 11:1 ], Trust [ Jn 14:1 ], Hope [ Ro 15:13, Tit 1:1-2 ]
Obedience [ Jn 14:15 ]
Faithfulness [ Ga 5:22-23 ]
Thankfulness [ Eph 5:19-20 ]

LOVE

[ Mt 22:37-40 ]

Gentleness, Kindness, Compassion [ Col 3:12 ]
Generosity [ Ps 37:25-26, 2 Co 9:6 ]
Sacrifice [ Ro 12:1, Php 2:4 ]
Forgiveness [ Lk 6:37 ]
Patience [ Eph 4:2 ]
Peace [ Ro 12:18 ]

HOLINESS

[ 2 Co 7:1 ]

Purity [ Php 1:9-11 ], Self-Control [ 1 Pe 1:13 ]
Justice [ Mt 23:23 ] and Mercy [ Jas 2:12-13 ]

JOY

[ 1 Th 5:16 ]

Contentment [ Php 4:12, 1 Ti 6:6 ]

HUMILITY

[ 1 Pe 5:5 ]

Servanthood [ Mt 23:11-12 ]

INTEGRITY

[ 1 Ch 29:17, Pr 11:3, Tit 2:7-8 ]

Truthfulness [ Eph 4:25 ], Sincerity [ 1 Pe 1:22 ]

PERSEVERANCE

[ Heb 12:1 ]

Endurance [ Col 1:10-12 ]

COURAGE

[ 1 Co 16:13, Heb 3:6 ]

Boldness [ Ac 4:29, 2 Co 3:12 ]

WISDOM

[ Pr 4:7, Jas 1:5 ]

Knowledge [ Php 1:9-11, 2 Pe 3:18 ], Understanding [ Pr 4:7 ]


Brothers, I don't regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do. Forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 3:13-14)

Notes

About this List

In this list I included only traits that are emphasized in the Bible, and even in that respect it is not necessarily a comprehensive list of virtues.
I tried to highlight broad (general) traits and listed more specific traits under the corresponding broader traits.
When possible, I picked at least one verse from the New Testament for each virtue. Furthermore, I did not want the only verse for a trait to be one that was addressed to a very specific group, for example, to an individual.
I originally used the New International Version® (NIV®) to look the verses up. Due to copyright-related restrictions, the verses I included as text are from the World English Bible (WEB), which is freely distributable. Note that the meanings of some verses may differ slightly from one translation to another.

Why and How I Made this List

At a certain point in college I started seriously thinking about what my values were, specifically what character traits were important to me (this is probably good for most people to do). I soon decided that the traits that should be important to me are the ones the Bible tells us to display, i.e. the ones God wants me to display. I looked online for lists of Christian values. I also searched the Bible extensively for verses related to this topic. During this process I decided that some things I had formerly valued were not that essential to me, since the Bible didn't mention them, while some other character traits I had not thought of initially became important to me. I decided to change from using the word "values" to using "virtues" when I read an article by Ian Hunter (see bibliography), because values differ from person to person, and the word implies freedom to do what you like, whereas virtues are more universal. Over a period of time I thought about and experimented with different ways of organizing the virtues in some logical way that would be easier to remember than a regular list of virtues in random order. Eventually I came up with the present scheme. The fact that this list is on my website does not necessarily mean that I display any of these virtues to any degree, but I am trying, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to incorporate them more and more into my life.


Bibliography/Acknowledgements

When I started specifically thinking about my values, the following sources in particular helped me, though subsequently I spent much time trying to come up with a final list of virtues and a good way of organizing them.

Online Sources:

Cook, Greg. Christian Values to Live By. 2 March 2003. http://www.geocities.com/greg_pc/cvalues/

Hunter, Ian. Supreme Court usurps Parliament: From Christian virtues to judicial values. March 1999. 2 May 2003 http://www.catholicinsight.com/features/feature_03.html.

Books:

Lewis, C. S.. Mere Christianity. HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.


All scripture taken from the World English Bible (WEB) unless otherwise stated. The WEB Revision is an update of the American Standard Version (ASV) of 1901.

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
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