MORAL RESTRAINT

Morals is doing what’s right. Moral restraint is not doing what’s wrong. That’s where it begins. The great philosopher Spinoza said “Passion is our life force. If we act on it impulsively, we self destruct. If we repress it, we fall into lifelessness. If we hold our passion, don’t act on it, and don’t repress it, apply thought, and think of the myriad of ways we could act, and the consequences, we’ll know the right way.” Holding the passion is the hard part. Passion is a powerful life force, and when it hits, if you don’t already have self discipline and moral restraint in place, passion will completely overwhelm you. You will either act impulsively and self destruct, or you will be afraid and repress your passion, and be cast into lifelessness. Moral restraint and strong willpower enable you to apply thought. This combination of moral restraint and thought engage the heart, and you are able to know with certainty the right thing. Your analytical brain surveys all the options and your heart knows which option is right. The chief characteristic of the heart is knowing what’s right. We, as individuals, are endowed with this personal knowledge, no matter what the situation. We all know in our hearts what is right. spiritandpoverty.com © Mitch Carter 2008 sprpov@yahoo.com