Vice vs Virtue

 

 

Vice versus Virtue

Is like evil against good,

Light opposing darkness,

Should not and should.

 

These are the tensions

In our present time,

These are the actors

On the stage of our mind.

 

The apostle Paul

Sets it up really neat

Go to Romans chapter 7

And there have a peep.

 

When I want to do good

Evil presents itself:

Vice stemming virtue

Ruining spiritual health.

 

The sins of the flesh

Versus the fruit of the Spirit:

The Spirit wants control

But sin is my habit.

 

Who will deliver me

From this bed of vice?

If only I yield to the Spirit

All would be nice.

 

The whatsoever things

Like truth and purity

That build a good report

And the things that are lovely.

 

These are the virtues

We should concentrate on

And say to the vices

Vices be gone!

 

Vices like unforgiveness

That stagnates the soul

And suppresses spiritual growth

Like the common cold.

 

Vices like bitterness

That we hold in our mind

Spoiling good relationships

Most of the time.

 

Greed and avarice

Selfishness regarding wealth

The proverbial altar on which

We sacrifice health.

 

Envy and strife

And a poisonous philosophy

Pulling down others

In fits of jealousy.

 

Compare the above

With the following virtues

And tell me, if you will,

Which one is your view?

 

Love, joy and peace

Long suffering and goodness,

A life lived above the law

Of temperance and meekness.

 

For they that are Christ’s

Crucify the vices of the flesh

And the evidential witness

Is a life of righteousness.

 

Vice versus Virtue:

Are you in darkness or light?

Which of the two is winning

In your spiritual fight?

 

I trust it is the latter,

The former spells strife!

Strife is a death option,

Why not choose life?

 

Stewart Russell © February 15, 2022