Virtue and Vice, Naughty Yet Nice

Interviewer: Hello!
God: How are you? Been thinking?
Interviewer: Yes, I have. And as You can see, I’m here for another session.
God: Great! Shall we start?
Interviewer: You are very eager today.
God: I am always eager. When someone is ready to start listening to Me, I like to take advantage of it right away, because often he or she tires pretty quickly and I get left talking to Myself.
Interviewer: Must be very frustrating.
God: Extremely! It is a good thing I have patience.
Interviewer: I suppose that all the things we regard as virtues, such as patience, are part of Your nature.
God: At least all the ones that should be regarded as virtues.
Interviewer: And conversely do all the vices belong to the ugly fella?
God: You are going to really tee him off talking about him like that. So go for it! You are right in that he is the master of vice.
Interviewer: Did he come made with those vices originally or did he think them up all by himself?
God: Those vices are the opposites of the virtues. He saw the good and came up with the bad.
Interviewer: And then saddled us with those?
God: No, you have a choice! You choose whichever you want to yield to, whether virtue or vice. Human nature tends to gravitate toward the bad; it takes more effort to embrace the good. But people often do want to be good, so that gets them to see the need for Me, and having Jesus and the Holy Spirit in their lives. With Our power in them, the good is much more easily achieved.
Interviewer: So then we can all be goody-goodies, I imagine.
God: Good grief, man, goody-goodies are just selfrighteous. Letting Our power work through you won’t make you a goody-goody, but Our power will help you achieve good.
Interviewer: That is a bit confusing for me. What exactly is the difference?
God: Putting on a show of goodness and achieving good are two different things. If you are trying to achieve good for your fellow man, then oftentimes you may not look so good to some. Others may not like what you are doing, may misinterpret your actions, or may feel you are going too far, etc. Looking good is being concerned about yourself and how you appear to others-perfecting yourself, actually, or being in love with yourself. But doing good is being a help to others, being concerned about their needs and condition, and putting yourself at the bottom of the totem pole.
Interviewer: So what is the greatest virtue?
God: Why, love, of course. Because if you love others, that will motivate you to help them in every way, and it will supply you with the will and resources to practice all the other virtues such as patience, kindness, honesty, and so on.
Interviewer: And the greatest vice?
God: Self-righteousness.
Interviewer: I thought You would say hate.
God: The self-righteous “moral” man has wreaked untold damage on the world. Those who have been the greatest scourges of this century thought they were right and righteous. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and others were so convinced of their rightness that they had no compunction in dispensing terror and bloodshed to achieve their “right” ends. And their confident self-righteousness convinced the masses that the horror they were perpetrating was for the greater good.
Self-righteousness causes man to think he is good without Me. Thus he has no need for Me, and he ends up straying far from Me. I have named some of the obvious culprits and there are many more that should spring to your mind, but if I named them, that could hit close to home and knock down some of your icons.
Interviewer: So I won’t pursue it. Somehow when the terms “virtue” and “vice” are mentioned, one subject that springs to mind is sex.
God: Why do you think that is?
Interviewer: Because they have become synonymous. When we say a woman is protecting her virtue, it means she is keeping her chastity. When one thinks of vice, you think of strip joints, hookers, or even a wild time with your girlfriend or spouse.
God: But sex is not a vice.
Interviewer: I think in many people’s minds it is naughty, yet nice.
God: Sex is supposed to be fun. So having a wild time, or a “naughty” time as you inferred, with your spouse should be looked on as getting pretty close to as good as it gets on earth.
Interviewer: Earlier You made some rather radical statements about sex, saying You don’t have to be married to enjoy it.
God: The world has made such an issue out of sex. Sex is supposed to be a wonderful part of marriage, really one of the most fun parts, but it doesn’t only have to be between husbands and wives. It shouldn’t be engaged in frivolously, and people need to be conscious that their actions don’t hurt others. But if it helps someone, hurts no one, and is not illegal, then there is no harm in it. In fact, there is a lot of good in it.
Interviewer: But there are consequences.
God: You mean children?
Interviewer: Yes, but not only children. I mean, sex can kill these days.
God: You mean AIDS and other diseases?
Interviewer: Yes.
God: That is why you shouldn’t have casual sex. There needs to be quite a bit of forethought by both parties.
Interviewer: So shouldn’t they wait till they are married?
God: Perhaps some should, but it is not essential. If you are going to have some sexual incompatibility, it would be good to know and get that sorted out before you get married, wouldn’t it?

To divorce or not?

Interviewer: Speaking of incompatibility, is it okay to get divorced?
God: My goodness, we were just talking about premarital sex and now you’ve jumped all the way to divorce. Don’t you want to dwell on the marriage for a while before ending it?
Interviewer: I mention this because You were saying that it is better to work out the incompatibility kinks before marriage. I was wondering about people finding out, once they are married, that things are not going so well. Do You consider divorce an option?
God: If you really try and it doesn’t work, rather than spending your lives in misery with each other, it is permissible to divorce, but this should be a last resort. Every effort should be made to save the marriage, and if children have been born to the marriage, then the parents should put the happiness and well-being of the kids before their own. If the home is like hell when the couple is together, then even for the kids’ sake it might be better to separate. But the parents should certainly be able to manage a level of decorum and civility even if they dislike each other, if it means their children can get the benefit of having two parents.
Interviewer: There are many single-parent households nowadays.
God: And this is a very sad state of affairs, because children are made to need two parents, both a mother and a father.
Interviewer: In a previous interview, You said that the key to relationships is humility.
God: Yes, and it is the key to a successful marriage too.
Interviewer: But in a marriage, which at least usually starts out as a romance, isn’t love the key?
God: If you truly love the other, then you will be humble. By “humble,” I mean that you will regard the other partner as more important than yourself. If both of the partners are doing that, then it is guaranteed to be a successful marriage.
Interviewer: Would it also mean that they should regard their children’s happiness as more important than their own?
God: Yes!
Interviewer: But won’t that result in the kids turning out to be spoiled brats?
God: I agreed when you said “more important.” I didn’t say to spoil them.
Interviewer: So what is the difference?
God: If you cater to their every whim and don’t instruct and train the children, but rather let them boss you around, then you will spoil them. But regarding them as more important is making sure that they are cared for and receive the training and guidance they need.
Interviewer: But many of us have careers we are pursuing and can’t devote that much time to our children.
God: When you have children, being a parent is the most important career you have. If your children suffer because you are pursuing your own goals to their neglect, you will live to regret it. The most important legacy anyone can leave behind is his or her children. Put your children above your own ambitions and you generally won’t go wrong. You won’t spend your old age lonely and regretting your selfishness. Even if your children are not able to be with you or care for you, your memory will still be rich with the multitude of marvelous times you spent together with them.
Interviewer: But many of us feel that we have to keep our job and its dictates in order to maintain a reasonable standard of living.
God: I think you would be surprised what you can do without and still maintain a reasonable standard of living. As the Bible states, “Beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Interviewer: I don’t think most people are really being greedy, or covetous, as You put it.
God: That is something that they will honestly have to assess for themselves.
Interviewer: Most of us are just trying to keep up the payments.
God: That is where all this “keeping up with the Joneses” has led. The things in your life now own you rather than you owning them. It’s best to stop and really consider whether you need all those things. Sometimes you are better off just cutting your losses and simplifying your lifestyle.
Interviewer: That is a frightening prospect.
God: Humanity’s essential physical needs are quite minimal-food, clothing, and shelter. Why waste your time on things you don’t really need and which aren’t making you happy? Life is too precious not to be enjoyed.
Interviewer: So You really want us to enjoy life.
God: Definitely! I want you to enjoy every moment of it, living life to the full-one full of love, loving Me, and loving others.
Interviewer: That sounds like a fitting way to finish this book. Would You like to say anything more?
God: Even though this is to be the end of your book, I hope this is not the end of our discussions and conversations, neither with you nor your readers. We have discussed and debated many topics, but there is still much more we can talk about. Whenever you want to, please stop by. I am more than happy to talk with you or any and everyone on any and every topic. Remember, you can call on Me at any time! I am right there with each of you-just a breath away. I love you!