-->Library>>Moral Theology in a Nutshell >> Virtue & Character
Our salvation and sanctification are not dependent on what we do. They are dependent rather on who we become and what kind of relationships we form with God and with our neighbor. Grace heals the rift between us and God caused by Original Sin, and God's presence in our souls makes conversion and holiness possible. Our choices to cooperate with grace or to resist it contribute to the creation of our character. By cooperating with grace, we can grow in virtue. By growing in virtue we can become good people capable of authentically loving God.
Our character is the part of our personality that is developed by our own choices. We may not be able to control some parts of our personality, such as our temperament, but we are able to control the development or our character. Ultimately it is our character that defines who we are. For example, you may have a phlegmatic temperament - prone to bouts of bitterness and frustration. Your temperament and your emotional vitriol are not fully in your control. However, your free will gives you power over your emotion. The bouts of bitterness you experience may be turned to determination, for example, or the kind of sorrow Jesus teaches about in the Beatitudes or repentance for your sin and weakness. Alternatively, you may choose to completely overcome your emotional negativity. Such choices transform our temperament into character.
The main goal of character development is to (by the help of grace) grow in virtue adn avoid vice. A virtue is a habit of choosing and doing what is good. A vice is a habit of choosing and doing what is evil, or of neglecting the good.
The virtues closely correspond to the moral law. As the moral law can be divided into natural law and divine law, so virtues can be divided into natural virues and supernatural virtues. Natural virtues help us to live the natural moral law by making us more human. Supernatural virtues help us to live out the divine law by
aiding our relationship with God.
On the natural level, virtue can be understood as a quality that makes something true to its nature. The virtue of a knife is sharpness because the purpose of a knife is to cut. Human beings are much more complex than knives, so there are a multitude of virtues. Since the defining faculties of human nature are the intellect, the will and our physical bodies, most virtues center on the perfection of these faculties. Physical virtues bring health to our bodies. Moral virtues strengthen and guide our will to choose what is authentically good and beautiful. Intellectual virtues strengthen the intellect and orient us toward truth.
So, how do we attain virtue? Natural habits are attained through the repetition of an action. To strengthen a habit, you must repeat the act with increasing intensity. Acquired habits eventually die if the action is not repeated and the habit is neglected.
Virtues can also be infused into the soul by God. Grace infuses into the human soul the theological virtues – faith, hope and love. The Holy Spirit can infuse any virtue within us, especially when they coincide with a Gift of the Holy Spirit. However, even these infused virtues must be exercised in order to be strengthened. They cannot completely die, even when they are neglected. However, they can atrophy.
As we practice virtue we use our daily choice to affect who we are becoming. We talk about habits becoming “second nature” to us, and this is an accurate description. Our virtues become an integral part of our personality. Especially when we cooperate with God to strengthen our infused virtues, we become co-creators with God, creating our personality with the help of His grace.
