Our Safeguard and our Guiding Star

I recently read a talk by President James E. Faust entitled The Virtues of Righteous Daughters of God.  (To read it click here).  I like what he had to say about virtue.  He said:

"Many people do not fully understand the meaning of virtue. One commonly understood meaning is to be chaste or morally clean, but virtue in its fuller sense encompasses all traits of righteousness that help us form our character.  An old sampler found in a museum in Newfoundland, stitched in 1813, reads: 'Virtue is the chiefest beauty of the mind, the noblest ornament of humankind. Virtue is our safeguard and our guiding star that stirs up reason when our senses err.'" 

As I read Pres. Faust's definition of virtue, it brought to my mind this scripture in proverbs:

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." (Proverbs 31:10)

I have always loved this scripture and it takes on so much more meaning when considering that virtue encompasses all traits of righteousness.  I like that the following verses go on to tell us what a virtuous woman looks like.  Some of her traits include:
trustworthy
dependable
good
industrious
strong
compassionate
giving
prepared
honorable
wise
kind
not idle
good mother
good wife
worships God
(Proverbs 31:11-31)


In his talk President Faust give us 10 virtues for us to pursue in "our quest for excellence and happiness."  They are:
1 .Faith
2. Honesty
3. Chasity
4.  Humility
5. Self-Discipline
6.  Fairness
7.  Moderation
8.  Cleanliness
9.  Courage
10.  Grace
I thought all of these virtues followed along so well with the verses in proverbs.


President Faust concludes his talk with this beautiful message and promise,

"These are challenging times. I believe your spirits may have been reserved for these latter days; that you, like Esther, have come to earth “for such a time as this.” It may be that your most significant, everlasting achievements will be your righteous influence on others, that your divine feminine inner beauty and intuition will find expression in your quiet strength, gentleness, dignity, charm, graciousness, creativity, sensitivity, radiance, and spirituality. Enhance these sublime feminine gifts. They will make you appealing and even irresistible as you serve others as the handmaidens of God.  I testify that if you practice these virtues, you will be able to “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.”