Raise The Standard, Love Yourself!!!

V.I.R.T.U.E., INC. challenges you to Raise the Standard of your life, by Loving Yourself!!! True to our very name, Vessels Imparting and Restoring Temples to Uncontestable Excellence, V.I.R.T.U.E. INC is reaching out to not only young women, but the young men of our communities as well. We are serving a message of self esteem and confidence through the love and covering of God.

In today's society, the level of excellence, moral character, and virtue appears compromised due to lowered standards. Whether this diminished standard is originated from personal choice or not, it is perpetuated in various forms such as older generations, social liberties, the media, and unfortunately, organized institutions.

To that end, VIRTUE is reaching out to impart and assist in repairing and restoring broken vessels to a place that they can again contain and house virtue (moral character). We invite you to join with us in this campaign to Raise the Standard. We believe this standard will be raised as you:

You can't truly love others until you love yourself first!

Many of the issues facing young men and women today originate from personal esteem and confidence issues. Often there are identity problems resulting in aborted purpose and destinies. Psalm 139:14 remedies that problem by giving us direct answers as to our true purpose and possessor.

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, High God-you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration-what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life before you, the days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.

Psalm 139:14

The Message Bible

"Raise the Standard, Love Yourself!"

Throughout history every generation has been known for something. Our parents were the "Make love not war" and "black is beautiful" generation. They believed that regardless of your situation, life was worth living and true love was worth sharing. They held a collective belief that real love could and would conqueror all. Many experienced the fruit of their belief while many others were hurt in the process.

Growing up witnessing the pain and misfortune of those in our parents' generation who were hurt created in many of us a desire to "do us" before we "get done". Love became just another four letter word. As understandable as that may be, it's just not natural. We were all created by God with an innate need to love and be loved. Most of us have no clue what that looks like but are ever searching for it. Many of us have been using sex, drugs, ambition, and "ride or die" relationships regardless of how healthy they are as a replacement.

Today, V.I.R.T.U.E., Inc. is challenging us to raise the standard and love ourselves. They are encouraging us to learn and experience love in the way that God intended. We do that by:

· Accepting the Love of God. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God's desire was that in return we would love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength [Mark 12:28].

· Loving ourselves. When we truly love God, we present our bodies as living sacrifices holy and acceptable unto God which is our reasonable service. We are not conformed to this world but we are transformed by the renewing of our minds [Romans 12:1-2]. Our expectations of ourselves and of others change. The standard of love in our lives is raised. We see ourselves as fearfully and wonderfully made [Psalms 139:14] and deserving of unconditional love.

· Loving our neighbor. One of the greatest commands that God gave us once we accepted His love was that we love our neighbor as ourselves [Mark 12:30]. We do that by expressing the love we have for ourselves and others in a way that is reflective of God's love for us. We become an expression of God's love to and for others.

You may ask why is this so important? It is important because every day thousands of young men and women are dying in pursuit of love and acceptance. Check out the statistics.

In the United States:

· Women ages 16-24 are victims of intimate-partner violence at nearly triple the rate of any other age group.1

· HIV is the leading cause of death among black women age 25-34.2

· Suicide is the third most common cause of death among 15-24 year olds.3

· Almost half (44%) of the new cases of HPV infection [which causes cervical cancer in women] have been found among people ages 20-24 years, and 27 % among people ages 25-39.4

How many more young people do we have to lose to violence, sexually transmitted diseases, and suicide before we realize the love we seek can only truly be satisfied through our relationship with God and ourselves?

Join us as we accept VIRTUE's challenge to raise the standard by becoming the standard.

References

1 United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2001). Special Report: Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim, 1993-1999.

2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV/AIDS among Women. (2008). Available at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/women/resources/factsheets/women.htm

3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web- based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) : www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars

4 Dunne, E. et. Al. (2007). Prevalence of HPV Infection Among Females in the United States. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 297, 813-819. [Centers for Disease Control Based Study].