Since many will enjoy special time with family and friends over the next few days in America celebrating Thanksgiving, the focus of today’s meditation is a list to stimulate good discussion. Through our interaction, I hope we can encourage one another to live out our faith generously, so that when we scatter, our impact multiplies.
There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Proverbs 6:16-19
Seven Sacred Virtues to Replace the Seven Deadly Sins
1. Humility instead of pride
2. Generosity instead of covetousness
3. Restraint instead of lust
4. Kindness instead of anger
5. Moderation instead of gluttony
6. Charity instead of envy
7. Diligence instead of sloth
Marilyn vos Savant in The Speaker’s Quote Book: Over 5,000 Illustrations and Quotations for All Occasions, ed. Roy B. Zuck (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2009) 562.
Here’s an interesting set of facts. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, penned today’s passage in Proverbs containing the seven deadly sins. Marilyn vos Savant, known widely as the world’s smartest woman, added the seven complementary virtues. Seriously, she’s in the Guinness Book of World Records for posting a 228 score on an IQ test.
Perhaps over a meal with family and friends, take turns going around the table and sharing about why we must pursue these virtues and avoid these sins. Perhaps print the list, cut it into seven pieces, put them in a bowl in the middle of the table and take turns pulling one out and testifying in your own words the significance of each virtue and the dangers of each vice.
We plan to do intentional activities like this one with our loved ones. We are so excited that our daughter, Sophie, flew in last night with her boyfriend, Peter, from California. We have more relatives arriving today: my brother, David, and his wife, Joanna, are visiting from Florida, and my niece, Jamie, and her husband Ryan, are arriving from Arizona.
We have so much for which to give thanks. Most of all that exhibiting these virtues and avoiding these sins is possible because of God’s work in us through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.