Image: by geralt, SA, Pixabay Image: by geralt, SA, Pixabay

I am teaching my students about virtues, good habits formed by making moral decisions, and vices, bad habits formed by making immoral decisions. We all have virtues and vices in our lives. Usually it is during this time of year that we reflect on our good habits, but more so on our bad habits. We create New Year's Resolutions in order to have more virtues than vices in our lives.

Vices, those bad habits we can't seem to kick, eventually become less sinful to us the more we engage in them. We condition ourselves to believe that those bad habits are not sinful, yet it is the same sin repeated over and over again. As we sin we can feel ourselves becoming more distant from God. The more distant we become the more difficult it is to not sin.

This is why the sacrament of Reconciliation is so vital to our character. When we repent with a contrite heart, making peace with God and attempting to no longer sin we bring ourselves back to God once more.

Living a fully human life is living with God, trying to live out our purpose with virtues and moral actions. We will always have both vices and virtues but the true testament to growth and becoming fully human is to constantly try to rid ourselves of our vices and draw closer to God. Our choices form our actions, which form our habits, which form our character, which leads us to our destiny.

Today, consider the vices you should work on giving up and the virtues that you should continue that draw you closer to God and to your purpose in life.

Copyright 2015 Lori Hadorn-Disselkamp

Image: by geralt, SA, Pixabay