BECOMING LIKE JESUS
2. Virtuous Life

The Problem of Virtue
Holiness has something of a bad press.

Being “holy” does not seem very desirable to many people in our contemporary society. Those who speak up for virtue are often derided as moralistic, sanctimonious, or holier-than-thou. The media reacts sharply against “preachy” public figures who presume to tell us how to order our private lives. And those who appear to be living lives of moral rectitude are treated

with suspicion: can they really be whiter than white? Or are they hiding darker truths about themselves–clean on the outside, but as filthy as the rest within? We have seen so many spectacular falls from grace amongst our celebrities, politicians, and church leaders that we have become wary of taking virtue at face value. There are, it would seem, more wolves in sheep’s clothing than there are genuine sheep.

And who, after all, wants the sheep’s life anyway? Frankly, to many of us sin just seems a lot more fun than sainthood . . . read more

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