THE SEVEN HEAVENLY VIRTUES
In order to Conquer the Seven Deadly Sins, we need to know about the Seven Heavenly Virtues
Many people know about the Seven Deadly Sins but did you know they were created from the Seven Heavenly Virtues. A Roman Christian dedicated his life to the research of the Bible and created a poem called Prudentius in the 5th century AD, which is where we first see these Seven theological virtues organized.
Author’s Notes: The reason I wrote this was because this was how I was able to find God 15 years ago. I was researching the Seven Heavenly Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins at the low point of my life and that’s when I heard a voice tell me that “everything was going to be all right”. Ever since that day forward the Holy Spirit filled me and has been crafting me into a stronger Christian. I hope this article helps others strengthen their faith. Amen.
Below are all Seven Heavenly Virtues and all corresponding Seven Deadly Sins with bible quotes that are associated with each one.
Chasity
In the New Testament, ‘sexual immorality’ is most frequently translated as porneia (πορνεία), which means ‘a surrendering of sexual purity,’ and is mostly used regarding premarital sexual relations. From this Greek word, we get the English word pornography, deriving from the idea of “selling off.”
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Sexual immorality is essentially the ‘selling off’ of sexual purity and involves sexual expression beyond the boundaries of a biblically defined marriage relationship (Matthew 19:4-5):
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’
5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?
6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
The opposite of Chasity is Lust.
3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God;
6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
Temperance
Temperance is moderation in thought, word, or action. Those who practice temperance are self-controlled and show restraint in their passions and behaviors. Temperance as a character trait is a common theme throughout the Bible, especially in the New Testament. Temperance or self-control is one of the fruits the Holy Spirit brings when He indwells believers. The biblical standard for Christians is that we allow nothing but the Holy Spirit to control us. Whether it be alcohol, food, lust, or greed, any fleshly desire that is not restrained becomes our functional god:
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Temperance relating to alcohol is implied in Ephesians 5:18, which says:
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit
Unless a person moderates alcohol consumption, it will be impossible for the Holy Spirit to direct that person’s choices. Alcohol will be in control.
The opposite of Temperance is Gluttony / Idolatry.
14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.
16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
19 Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
Charity
Charity can be described as the friendship of man for God, which unites us to God. Loving your neighbor, which Jesus referred to as the most important commandment falls under this.
1If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The opposite of Charity is Avarice / Greed.
Greed (or avarice) is an insatiable desire for material gain (be it food, money, land, or animate/inanimate possessions) or social value, such as status, or power. Another word for this is selfishness or self-centeredness.
2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
Diligence
Diligence in the Bible talks about being a strong Christian, even throughout the hardships of living on Earth.
9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation.
10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.
12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
The opposite of Diligence is Sloth.
The authors of the Bible used the word sluggard to describe people who would say they were Christian but were idle / disruptive and didn’t live according to the teachings of Jesus Christ:
6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,
8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.
10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.
13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.
14 Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed.
15 Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.
Kindness
When we exhibit the kindness of God, we are tender, benevolent, and useful to others. Every action, every word will have the flavor of grace in it. To maintain this attitude toward those we love is hard enough. To express kindness toward those who are against us requires the work of God. That is why kindness is a fruit of the Spirit:
3 We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.
4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;
5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;
6 in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;
7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;
8 through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;
9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;
10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you.
12 We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us.
13 As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.
The opposite of Kindness is Envy.
A simple definition of envy is “to want what belongs to someone else.” A more thorough description of envy is “a resentful, dissatisfied longing for another’s possessions, position, fortune, achievements, or success.” Another word in the Bible closely associated with envy is covetousness. To covet is to have an excessive desire to possess what belongs to another. Usually related to tangible items like property, covetousness is an intense craving or selfish desire that threatens the fundamental rights of others.
Patience
Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay, tolerance of provocation without responding with disrespect or anger, forbearance when under strain or being able to wait for a long time without getting irritated or bored.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?
25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.- Romans 8
The opposite of Patience is Wrath.
Wrath can be summarized as strong vengeful hatred or resentment. The warnings of wrath in Christianity arise from the consequences of vengeance in human relations. We can become consumed by rage and revenge to the point of acting irrationally and immorally. This is the wickedness of wrath and why it is included as a deadly sin.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Humility
The Bible describes humility as meekness, lowliness, and absence of self. The Greek word translated “humility” literally means “lowliness of mind,” so we see that humility is a heart attitude, not merely an outward demeanor. One may put on an outward show of humility but still have a heart full of pride and arrogance. Jesus said that those who are “poor in spirit” would have the kingdom of heaven.
4 You adulterous people. don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.- James 4
The opposite of Humility is Pride.
It was early 1941 when C.S. Lewis said that Pride was the Greatest sin. He was in England and had survived the Blitz, a series of massive German air attacks that included a systematic bombing of London for 57 days and nights. The cost had been great, with tens of thousands of civilians killed and a million houses destroyed or damaged. While the threat of an invasion of the United Kingdom seemed unlikely, the rattled British population faced the likelihood of a long and bloody war.
To reassure people, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) decide to expand its religious broadcasting to include some short, 10- to 15-minute talks by an Oxford fellow named C.S. Lewis.
The BBC’s director of religious broadcasting had been impressed by Lewis’s apologetic work The Problem of Pain and figured that Lewis could share his quality of thinking, and depth of conviction, over the airwaves. Lewis agreed. And, in August of 1941, he started the first of four series of weekly radio addresses.
Because had been an atheist for many years and had become a Christian fairly recently, Lewis could empathize with those who struggled with the Christian faith or some aspects of it. So, his first two sets of talks focused on apologetics, or reasoned arguments in support of Christianity, and were later published in the U.S. as The Case for Christianity.
In the fall of 1942, his third series of talks covered Christian behavior, including morality, sexual morality, forgiveness, faith, and “The Great Sin.”
What is the great sin? What sin is worse than any other?
C.S. Lewis replied to this question with clarity:
There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.
According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison. It was through pride that the Devil became the Devil: Pride leads to every other vice. It is the complete anti-God state of mind.
Recognizing that some in his audience would object, Lewis spent the rest of his talk giving reasons why pride is the worst of all sins.
Thank you for writing this! 🙏💕🙏
There is a wonderful book called The Book of Virtues on these that I constantly use to teach my children.