Why Be Virtuous?

Last week in the April 2013 General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sister Dalton asked for a return to virtue.  Those words have continued to ring in my head.  Over and over I just keep seeing her cry and asking for us to return to virtue.  It was a beautiful talk that everyone should read. Check it out here.  I have always admired Sister Dalton.  She is an example of virtue herself!

Tonight as I was rocking my youngest daughter to sleep, I just kept thinking about why we need to be virtuous.  So as I always do when I want to know why, I look up the word in the dictionary.  So here is the definition of the word virtue from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

VIRTUE = 1(a):  conformity to a standard of right
                                         (b):  a particular moral excellence
                         2:  an order of angels
                         3:  a beneficial quality or power of a thing
                         4:  manly strength or courage : valor
                         5:  a commendable quality or trait : merit
                         6:  a capacity to act : potency
                         7:  chastity especially in a woman

After reading the definitions, I thought, "Who doesn't want to be virtuous?"  We live in a world that is starting to fall apart.  Even those who don't believe in God can see that we are unstable.  Selfishness abides everywhere.  There are no standards for people to live by.  There is just chaos.  I fear for my children that I am raising.  I worry about how they can do it, how can they survive?  But if I teach them virtue, there is no need to worry.  Virtue is a power!!  There is strength from heaven in being virtuous.  Isn't that we need in this world?  Don't we need to have that little bit of extra power to be able to withstand the chaos in our world?  I know I do.  I look at the definition and I want every one of those.  I want to be able to act for myself, I want to have strength and courage, I want to have power, I want to have moral excellence. 

We are Children of God!!  We are heirs to HIM - Lord and King!  God is Virtuous.  We too must be virtuous!

If you ever felt like you need to be more, start here with virtue.  Start taking a stand for what you believe in, for what is right!  If we can bring virtue back to our world, think of how much better the world would be.  It begins with us!!  We must make the decision to return to virtue and then encourage those around us to take a stand with us.