Persevere in True Godliness

'Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, "Lie with me." But he refused.
GENESIS 39:6-8
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Persevere in True Godliness
Joseph spurns and rejects an opportunity so convenient and so full of safety, power, favor and pleasure. Surely this is clear proof of the greatest probity and continence. And these virtues flowed from the fact that in his heart the Word of God and reverence for and fear of God were established, because faith reigned there through the Holy Spirit. . .. What a great thing and how pleasing it is to the Lord to keep the faith, to fear and revere His commandments, and not to withdraw from Him but to persevere in true godliness of heart. Christ admonishes us to conduct ourselves in this way when He says: "By your endurance you will gain your lives" (Luke 21:19). Likewise: "He who endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13). For the devil is not exhausted, and he does not cease. No, he is insistent, and he forces opportunities. Nor do the toil and exertion of one day or of one year suffice, but there is need of patience and persistence in fighting until he either conquers or is conquered and has his head crushed (cf. Genesis 3:15).
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