by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
The ethics of Christians fall under the category of virtue. Virtue ethics is grounded in the attributes and character of God, for all virtue flows from Him. While there is an obligation of following rules (God’s commandments), there is a significant and vital component of learning wisdom. Why? Because, for the most part, the New Testament does not give a list of rules or specified do’s and don’ts. There is some of that (e.g., I Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21), but even then, we are expected to learn the principles involved in what is specified.<\/p>\n
This is why the Hebrews writer can say, “Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil<\/em>” (Hebrews 5:14). The ability to discern is wisdom. This is also why it is so fallacious to argue that something is okay just because the Bible doesn’t specifically say it is wrong. That argument is grounded in a lack of wisdom and is instead looking merely at rules. If everything were spelled out specifically, there would be no need to discern.<\/p>\n Wisdom is the domain of the mature who are seeking to glorify God in everything they do and say. While we all fail at this, it is also wise to get back up after a fall and continue on the path of seeking to please God. Virtue is not a one-off action, but a steadfast, life-long journey over hills and valleys, difficulties and triumphs.<\/p>\n by Doy Moyer The ethics of Christians fall under the category of virtue. Virtue ethics is grounded in the attributes and character of God, for all virtue flows from Him. While there is an obligation of following rules (God’s commandments), there is a significant and vital component of learning wisdom. Why? Because, for the most…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1609,482,730],"class_list":["post-61436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-command","tag-learning","tag-wisdom"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61746,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-do-or-allowed-to-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":61436,"position":0},"title":"Should Do or Allowed to Do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"What should I do or not do?\" is a question of wisdom. \"What am I allowed to do or not do?\" is a question of law. While we have boundaries of what we are allowed or not allowed to do, and these are vital to know, more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69330,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/learning-how-to-think\/","url_meta":{"origin":61436,"position":1},"title":"Learning How to Think","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Scripture shows that God's concerns are not just for what is technically good or bad, right or wrong, allowed or disallowed. We could argue over what is technically sinful or not, but that's essentially a legalistic approach that misses the essential element of wisdom, especially in matters\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65405,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/two-views\/","url_meta":{"origin":61436,"position":2},"title":"Two Views","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton The Biblical View God created us and gets to make the rules. He made two genders: male and female and expects us to act like men if we are men and women if we are women. God does not approve of us changing the natural genders\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8820,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-i-need-to-know-to-become-a-preachers-wife\/","url_meta":{"origin":61436,"position":3},"title":"What do I need to know to become a preacher’s wife?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know that I could become a preacher's wife. I want to be a good virtuous wife because I have, well, kind of seeing a preacher. I want to do the right things in God eyes and not my eyes. I don't want to mess it up. I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24914,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-there-be-any-virtue\/","url_meta":{"origin":61436,"position":4},"title":"If There Be Any Virtue","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 7:14-25 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of the educational fads is \u201cvalues clarification\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Government run schools have a problem. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is good for society to have morally good citizens, but the whole concept of morality assumes a standard of right and wrong that is greater than mankind.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63896,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jamaica-patois-wisdom-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":61436,"position":5},"title":"Jamaica Patois Wisdom \u2013 Experience","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant The Jamaican Patois dialect is colorful, unique, and humorous. It is my desire to share some of the philosophy shown in this mix of colorful phrases that are witty as well as thought-provoking. I hope the readers both profit and enjoy. In my quarter-century plus of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/old-broom-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61436\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,<\/em>
\nand whatever you get, get insight.<\/em>
\nPrize her highly, and she will exalt you;<\/em>
\nshe will honor you if you embrace her.<\/em>
\nShe will place on your head a graceful garland;<\/em>
\nshe will bestow on you a beautiful crown<\/em>” (Proverbs 4:7-9).<\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"