Character Strengths in Spiritual Practice: How can your VIA Strengths be a part of how you pray, serve and become?

We might assume that character strengths are a result of our spiritual practice but I think the loop runs both ways. In this post, I want to introduce (probably) the most scientifically rigorous personality test, useful in the world of spiritual direction: the VIA Character Strengths Survey and get you started with some ideas about how you might find it useful.

Spiritual practice can become strangely vague.

We may know we want more depth, more steadiness, more connection, more honesty, more prayer, more meaning. But it is not always clear what to do next.

• Pray more.

• Be still.

• Listen.

• Trust.

• Connect.

• Serve.

These are good ideas, but they can float above practical, ordinary life. They sound right but in a fridge-magnety sort of way.

Character strengths in spiritual practice give a different kind of edge.

They ask: what is already strong in you? What do you naturally bring? What keeps showing up in your life, your work, your relationships, your attention, your choices and your longing?

We think our values are what are important but I think our verbs are what really matters. Where values are vague, verbs give actionable evidence. 

Strengths As material for practice.

The VIA Character Strengths framework identifies 24 strengths of character, grouped into six broad virtue areas: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence. That may sound abstract at first, but it becomes very practical very quickly. Very verby.

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Incidentally, you can take the test, for free here. 

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Wisdom

Wisdom includes strengths such as curiosity, creativity, judgement, love of learning and perspective. For one person, wisdom might show up as a restless hunger to understand. They read, question, make connections, look beneath the surface – spiritually, that can be a gift, but it can also become a way of never quite arriving. The practice may not be learn more; it may be learning when to stop gathering information and live from what has already been given.

Courage

Courage includes bravery, perseverance, honesty and zest. Someone strong in courage may be able to keep going through difficulty. They may be direct, resilient and willing to act. But courage can also become strain. The person who keeps going may need to learn when faithfulness means taking rest seriously, or finding softness or asking for help.

Humanity

Humanity includes love, kindness and social intelligence. These are beautiful strengths, but they are not automatically easy. A kind person may carry too much. Someone highly tuned to others may lose track of their own desire, anger or need. Their spiritual practice may involve learning that love doesn't equal availability, and that service does not mean being endlessly usable.

Justice

Justice includes teamwork, fairness and leadership. These strengths help us notice community, responsibility and the wellbeing of others. A person strong in justice may feel a deep pull towards making things better. But they may also become frustrated by slowness, compromise or human mess. Their practice may involve learning how to serve without becoming hard, bitter or permanently braced.

Temperance

Temperance includes forgiveness, humility, prudence and self-regulation. These strengths help us avoid excess. They can make a person thoughtful, measured and steady. But even temperance has its distortions. Prudence can become hesitation. Humility can become hiding. Self-regulation can become tight control. The practice may be to let goodness become freer.

Transcendence

Transcendence includes appreciation of beauty, gratitude, hope, humour and spirituality. These strengths connect us with meaning, wonder and the wider horizon. Someone strong here may find God, or depth, through beauty, laughter, silence, nature, gratitude or a sense of purpose. But transcendence can also drift away .... The practice may be to bring wonder back into washing up, emails, family life, work and the body.

This is why Character strengths in spiritual practice are so useful

This isn't remedial practice. Refreshingly it meets you by asking what is there, what has been given, what your gifts are and how to use them and build on them. How can you use them to serve life more easily or tackle spiritual problems?

Imagine someone who says, I’m bad at prayer.

But when they look at their strengths, they notice appreciation of beauty, curiosity and kindness. Sitting silently with abstract thoughts about God may feel impossible. But walking slowly through the woods, noticing light on wet leaves, carrying one person in mind, and asking one question may be prayer already.

Or imagine someone who feels spiritually dry and guilty because they do not feel peaceful. Their strengths are fairness, bravery and honesty. Perhaps their spiritual life is not blocked because they are restless. Perhaps their spiritual life is calling them into truthful action, repair, protest, reconciliation or service.

Or imagine someone who is exhausted from always being the dependable one. Their top strengths include perseverance, kindness and leadership. The question may not be How do I become more committed? The question may be How do I use these strengths without letting them consume me?

And what about you? What are your strengths and how might you harness them for your spiritual practice or explore what needs to be balanced due to overuse? That's what this course explores.

SDUK course: VIA Strengths for Spiritual Practice

This course is about thinking differently and applying a very practical positive psychology lens to your spirituality. It is not about turning yourself into a better, shinier, more impressive person (although, on some days, I could do with more shine), it is about learning to notice what is strongest in you, and how to use it with more wisdom, care and purpose.

• It may help you pray differently.

• It may help you understand why some spiritual practices fit you and others never quite do.

• It may help you see the difficult side of your strengths with insights about what do rebalance.

• It may help you recognise what you bring to other people, and what you can stop carrying.

• It may help you learn What kind of person am I? and What is mine to bring?

Book on the next course here:

The next course starts soon. The course runs weekly – four x hour long sessions.

You do not need to be Christian to attend. Some examples may include Christian language such as prayer, calling and vocation, but the course is designed for people with different beliefs, different language and different levels of certainty.

Bring your questions, your strengths, your doubts, your awkwardness, your longing, and the life you are actually living. That is usually where the real practice begins.