BLOG postings: (link to Achieving Success BLOG for all posts and PDF downloads)

Discipline to Success: The Spiritual Attribute

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

continuation from BLOG posting: spiritual development

Building Your Spiritual Skills

Having Virtue

Virtue defines a person who has manly strength and courage. Manly strength is different from physical strength. Manly strength is internal mental strength — the inner strength to control your appetites and passions. Manly strength means that you will sacrifice your interests, and even your own lives if necessary, to defend your principles and the lives of others.

In the classic film, “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy and her friends seek the Wizard for special favors. Dorothy wants to return home; the Scarecrow wants a brain; the Tin Man wants a heart; and the Lion wants virtue.

A virtuous person has courage, much like the courage the Lion needed to become the King of Jungle, as was his right. A virtuous person has the same courage — not the courage to rule over a kingdom, but the courage to face adversity and disappointment.

Virtue defines a person who adheres to moral laws such as honesty, integrity and truthfulness. People with virtue would never cheat another person. They honor their oaths and commitments and remain honest in all of their convictions. People who are virtuous are held in high esteem because of their trustworthy and ethical acts.

Virtue defines someone who possesses a moral excellence. Moral excellence means that we elevate ourselves above the worldly filth that can demoralize our character. A virtuous person does not engage in X-rated materials, violence and language that corrupt the sanctity of sexual, religious and personal values. A virtuous person seeks a higher ground of moral living. Instead of wasting time with sexual fantasies and deplorable language and violence, a virtuous person engages in activities that uplift the moral character.

We can obtain virtue by —

• having manly strength and courage to honor our principles and values.
• conforming to a standard of right.
• becoming a person of commendable quality.
• exercising a particular moral excellence.

Next week: we will start our discussion on the spiritual attribute: having patience.

———-
Read more about achieving success and become something grand: subscribe to our RSS feed

Tags: Achieving Success, buiding success, building success, spiritual success

BLOG postings: (link to Achieving Success BLOG for all posts and PDF downloads)

Discipline to Success: The Spiritual Attribute

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

continuation from BLOG posting: social development

Building Your Spiritual Skills

Developing Faith

Faith defines a person who has confidence and trust in God or a supreme value. Having confidence and trust means adhering to the values and commandments that you believe are supreme.
zealots and agnostics.

Faith is confidence and trust in yourself and others. It is the obligation of loyalty and allegiance to higher values and principles. A faithful person never waivers from his or her beliefs or goals, no matter what influences that try to drive a wedge between your beliefs and convictions.

Faith begins with a hope for something. For example, you are reading and applying the principles from this book because you have hope of achieving well-roundedness and accomplishing your goals. Hope is a driving force that prompts you to act.

Hope builds faith. Your faith becomes stronger when you see, touch and feel the effects of your actions. The same example applies when developing the five attributes of your character. Your faith in the five-attribute concept increases when you see changes in your physical, physical temperance, education, social and spiritual attributes. You believe in your actions and capabilities.

Faith comes from experience and testimonials. You wouldn’t blindly purchase a car without first testing it, researching consumer reports and perhaps talking with friends. And you certainly wouldn’t lie under the knife of a surgeon if the doctor’s reputation was not supported by references and testimonials. Personal experience and testimonials can increase your faith in everyday decisions.

In summary, faith begins with hope. Hope prompts us to act upon certain principles and values. Action gives us knowledge. Faith means that we hope . . . we act . . . we learn.

Next week: we will start our discussion on the spiritual attribute: building virture.

———-
Read more about achieving success and become something grand: subscribe to our RSS feed

Tags: Achieving Success, building faith, building success

BLOG postings: (link to Achieving Success BLOG for all posts and PDF downloads)

Discipline to Success: The Spiritual Attribute

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

continuation from BLOG posting: social development

Building Your Spiritual Skills

You must be feeling fantastic by now. You are strengthening four of the five attributes of your character and increasing self-discipline. We now reach the highest level of character well-roundedness. The spiritual attribute completes the circle that will support and accomplish your goals.

What is the spiritual attribute? The best answer to this question comes by reading the four Gospels in the New Testament section of the Holy Bible. It makes no difference whether you believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ or not. One argument is certain: The man Jesus Christ was a great teacher of moral ethics and spiritual qualities. This viewpoint is held by most Christians, Jews, Moslems, religious zealots and agnostics.

The spiritual attribute seeks a higher plane of human development. You can be an atheist and still possess spiritual qualities that are goodly. A spiritually developed person chooses not worldly appetites, but seeks those qualities that elevate mental well-being.

You can find many theological and philosophical theories on spiritual development. We learn and apply these theories through our religious and philosophical studies. But no matter what your belief or philosophy, you can strengthen your spiritual attribute by developing the following spiritual qualities:

faith virture patience charity humility diligence moral ethics

Next week: we will start our discussion on each of these spiritural attributes.

———-
Read more about achieving success and become something grand: subscribe to our RSS feed

Tags: Achieving Success, build spiritural traits, build success, spiritual attributes, success building