The cardinal virtue of Temperance is one that is rarely practiced in modern culture these days. It is the virtue that dictates you moderate your behavior and lifestyles. Unfortunately, many in our society have taken to going from one extreme to the other. There is hardly a portrayal of someone who is able to moderate their behavior.
American culture is one of excess. We take great pride in being able to go overboard in all things. Whether it’s alcohol, food, sex, or just stuff we are obsessed with buying, we go to great extremes for many of these things. This virtue is designed to prevent us from going too far and keeping our extreme behaviors in check, without denying us the opportunity to enjoy them.
That’s the other extreme that violates this cardinal virtue. The idea that we must abstain from certain things completely. While there are some things that, as a Christian, we must abstain from because there are boundaries set up by God. Sex is only acceptable when it is between a man and a woman who are married. Within that boundary, they are free to engage in whatever sexual acts the two feel comfortable with. In marriage, we have a formula for temperance when it comes to sexual relations.
But to completely abstain from things that one doesn’t need to abstain from can be just as damaging as engaging in excesses. This world has so much for us to enjoy, and when do so with a disciplined heart, we can thoroughly enjoy all God has given us.
For Christians, Temperance also prevents us from falling into idolatry. Idols are anything that we put before God in worship. Temperance allows us to enjoy food, alcohol, sex, and so much else without falling into the worship of these things, which is what the Seven Deadly Sins basically are. Indeed, this virtue is the counter to at least six of the seven deadly sins, as those sins are basically our instincts in overdrive.
For non-Christians, this virtue is still pivotal because it allows anyone who practices it to keep within certain boundaries and allows them to maintain their own lives without destroying them in the process. Basically, it is the same with non-Christians as it is with Christians, only non-Christians don’t have as many boundaries that they need to follow since they have not chosen to follow God (I know I’m probably enraging some fellow Christians by saying this, but you need to disregard the sin of the sinner when spreading the Good News).
Temperance is not an easy virtue to practice, especially if you are prone to addictions and obsessions. The goal of this virtue is to find a kind of balance in your life so you can enjoy things and not let those things destroy you in the process. There is no perfect balance, however, and it takes prudence to know where the line is when engaging in a certain kind of behavior. Every person has their own limits and no two people can enjoy the same thing to the same degree. We are all like snowflakes, after all.
So you will need to know what your limits are. If you have problems with overeating, then you may have to keep yourself out of the kitchen and instead find something else to do. If you struggle with lust, then you will need to redirect your passions elsewhere so you don’t end up making an embarrassing visit to a doctor someday. And so on and so forth, I think you get the idea.
The Seven Virtues are all linked together, although they are separate concepts. See how Prudence aids in supporting Temperance? Both are cardinal virtues that are vital for everyone, including non-Christians. Temperance itself allows us to engage the world and discover its many pleasures and wonders while keeping our other virtues intact.
And don’t worry, it doesn’t take much self-discovery to know our limits nor does it require any experimentation. It just requires a little prudence and a little bit of another virtue I will discuss in the future: Fortitude.