Virtue and Knowledge.

      In 1 Nephi 2:16 it reads, "...and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God..." I believe that this desire is the spark of virtue. Again in Alma 32:27 it reads "...Even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you..."

      Virtue originates in the deepest part of our minds. I believe it starts first as thoughts, desires, hopes, and longings to be better. It is evident first in our thoughts and our desires and secondly in our choices, and actions. It is a driving force, that, starting as a small desire if we allow it to grow, and as Nephi did ask God to help us make that desire a reality, we can see it come to fruition and grow from this small desire, this spark of virtue into true virtuous behavior. We can all become pure and virtuous.

    Continuing in Nephi 2:16 we read "...Wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father..." Here we see that Because Nephi had this desire, he ventured to have Faith in the Lord, enough that he had Hope that he would receive an answer and so he asked the Lord and his Hope was fulfilled and his Faith was answered. He received an answer to his prayer and in so doing gained Knowledge. Nephi because he had Faith had a desire, or a spark of virtue, a desire to be good, a desire to be strong and pure. Through this he gained Knowledge. In 2 Peter 1:5 it reads "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge;"

    Here we can begin to see just how intertwined all the attributes of Godliness are. For with Faith and Hope, Faith that Jesus is the Christ and Hope that he will fulfill all his promises to us comes, at least with true Faith and Hope a Desire (I.E. Virtue.)  to be more like him as well as a Knowledge of our need for Him and our reliance on Him (I.E. Humility). As we progress and exercise our Faith God will grant unto us increased Knowledge, which Knowledge will lead us to greater Virtue. I do believe that any person who has a firm Knowledge of the nature of God will in his heart desire to be better for such a being. Woe unto him who has Knowledge and desires not to please him. Which Desire will lead us to gain more Knowledge and so, the cycle goes. each building upon the others until we are filled with Light and Knowledge.

     Continuing in 2 Peter 1:6 we read "And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness" Now, Patience I will talk about more next sunday, that is for another time, but Here we see Temperance, which from the footnotes we can see means self control. To me, this temperance is the action of Virtue. For is not being Pure and as it says of Virtue in PMG chapter 6 "It is a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards" require self control? The ability to focus on righteous, uplifting thoughts and put unworthy thoughts that lead to inappropriate actions out of your mind does take a high degree of self control, or as the scriptures call it temperance. Again I say, through Faith, Hope, and Humility we can all be Pure and Virtuous.

    Turning back to Knowledge, again I emphasis the importance of Faith. In D&C 88:118 the Lord commands us "Seek learning, even by study and also by Faith" Emphasis added. (<--I've always wanted to say that..) The Lord will teach us according to our Faith, the scriptures are packed full of story after story of this exact thing. (Nephi obtaining the knowledge of his fathers words, of the vision of the tree of life, of how to build a boat, of where to find ore to build tools to build a boat, Enos praying in the woods just to name a few)

     Increased Knowledge will allow us to have greater Faith, greater Faith to more firm Hope, more firm Hope to deeper desires, deeper desires to greater Humility, greater Humility to stronger Virtue, stronger Virtue to increased Knowledge, and as we read in 2 Peter "to temperance patience" which, truly none of this could happen without some patience, these things do not happen over night, or even in the space of a week, or months (in most cases). These things I say in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.