The Virtues of Knighthood
The Sacred Virtues
These twenty-four virtues form the spiritual foundation of the Knights Templar Order of St Michael, forging a code of character that calls every knight to faithful service, spiritual maturity, and unyielding courage in Christ.
Virtue 1: Godliness
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. —Ephesians 5:1-2
Being godly means imitating God in your daily life. Put simply, a godly person is one who responds to daily life activities and circumstances in the way that Christ would. Essentially, this means aspiring to godly virtues while avoiding sin. First Timothy 6:11 encourages us to “Flee from all this (sin), and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.” These two actions—fleeing sin and pursuing righteousness—are the two action commands of godliness that can guide your decisions in daily life situations.
Virtue 4: Love
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you, and over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. —Colossians 3:12-14
Love—not gallantry or pride—should drive a knight to be a knight and should govern his thoughts and actions. Without love, your knightly life, virtue, and deeds are worthless. A true knight lives with love as his life’s main goal. All actions should come from a place of love, especially those that require defending others in the heat of battle.
Virtue 7: Temperance
Everything is permissible—but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. —1 Corinthians 10:23-24
Temperance means moderation in action, thought, or feeling; restraint. To a knight, this means complete abstinence from some things and moderation in all things. Without this virtue, a knight’s life and character will fail.
Virtue 10: Perseverance
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. —Romans 5:3-5
A knight needs perseverance and patience. Perseverance is staying with a project or battle until it is finished. Patience is tolerating pain or difficulty. These virtues are interrelated: patience includes perseverance—the ability to bear up under weariness, strain, and persecution when doing the work of the Lord.
Virtue 13: Sacrifice
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? —Matthew 16:24-25
A knight sacrifices by using strength on behalf of the weak. Loosing the chains of injustice, untying bondage, setting the oppressed free, sharing food, and providing shelter and clothing are acts of sacrifice. We are to spend ourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed.
Virtue 16: Truth
I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O Lord. Do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. —Psalm 119:30-32
Being truthful means being real and honest with the facts, but also living so what you know to be true influences daily actions. A knight who has not resolved to speak only the truth will stumble; part of his life will crumble without this virtue.
Virtue 19: Hospitality
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. —Hebrews 13:2
Hospitality means going out of your way to serve and provide for others. It ranks among the key traits of knighthood. We need to welcome and serve others, particularly those in the family of believers.
Virtue 22: Grace and Mercy
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. —Colossians 3:13-14
Grace is getting what you do not deserve, such as a blessing or reward. Mercy is not getting what you deserve, such as a punishment. A true knight lives with both.
Virtue 2: Faith
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. —Hebrews 11:6
Faith is when you trust God and His purpose in your circumstances more than the resources that appear to be available to fit them as you understand them. As Hebrews 11:1 states, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith is critical to the knight. God has said that it is impossible to please Him without faith. A true knight’s first mission and calling is to please the King.
Virtue 8: Strength
No king is saved by the size of his army, no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. —Psalm 33:16-20
Scripture and the world define strength in opposite ways. Being empowered by our own self-will will usually not get us far in God’s eyes. God prefers us emptied of our own strength and ready to be filled with His strength. Our weakness clears the way for God’s strength to rest on us.
Virtue 11: Honor
Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life. —Proverbs 22:4
Godly honor comes when a person serves and lives only for God. Sometimes others acknowledge this honor publicly, but this is never a true knight’s goal. He lives for an audience of One and maintains honor within himself. A by-product may be a good reputation, but that is never his goal. Having a good name is more desirable than great riches.
Virtue 14: Compassion
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. —Proverbs 31:8-9
Compassion means possessing deep sympathy and sorrow for those stricken by misfortune, coupled with a strong desire to alleviate their suffering. It is stopping your busy life to pour into the needs of others. It is an active requirement of a modern knight’s daily life.
Virtue 17: Purity
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. —Ephesians 5:3-5
Purity means being free from anything that taints or impairs. God wants us free from life-impairing sin and unmixed with the things of this world.
Virtue 20: Courtesy
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. —Galatians 6:9-10
Courtesy is displaying polished manners, showing respect, and practicing gentle politeness. It is something seen in action, not merely held internally.
Virtue 23: Mentorship
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. —Proverbs 27:17
A mentor provides wise and influential counsel when someone is open to receiving it. Mentorship preserves true values and character traits. Knighthood has continued through the ages through mentorship; a true knight leaves a legacy.
Virtue 3: Hope
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint. —Isaiah 40:30-31
Hope is the emotional state that promotes belief in a positive outcome. Hope comes down to what you believe in when the chips are on the table. We can wait, hope, and trust in God or act in our own feeble efforts and waste our time and energy. Hoping in God means holding steadfast and taking action when and how He prompts us.
Virtue 9: Humility
Young men, in the same way, be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. —1 Peter 5:5-6
Humility means putting ourselves completely under God’s mighty hand. We are humble when we are free from pride and arrogance. When humble, we are ready and available to receive God’s favor and blessing.
Virtue 12: Charity
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. —Philippians 2:4-7
Charity means unlimited loving-kindness toward others. In the context of a modern-day knight, it means being charitable and giving with time, talent, and treasures—not only giving money to those in need.
Virtue 15: Loyalty
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. —Luke 14:26-27
Loyalty is being unswerving in allegiance. When you choose not to swerve from the path the Lord has for you, you act out of loyalty. When you remain faithful to friendship or marriage, you act out of loyalty. Loyalty is faithful dedication.
Virtue 18: Gallantry
Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight. —1 Chronicles 19:13
A knight who lacks courage and flees when he should give aid does not use the office of knighthood. Gallantry is one of the fundamental aspects of knighthood.
Virtue 21: Gratitude
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? —1 Corinthians 4:7
Gratitude includes being grateful in diverse circumstances and expressing gratitude to God and others. Thankfulness does not deny life’s problems; it rejoices in Jesus in the midst of trials and tribulations.
Virtue 24: Overcoming Failure
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 3:13-14
Overcoming failure means getting back up after being knocked down, pushing through difficulty, and not giving up. True knights know both victory and defeat.
Virtue 5: Justice
Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes. —Psalm 112:5-8
Modern knights living in virtually any life situation can work to uphold justice. Ethically practicing justice in all things great and small should be important because it is important to God. Whether lobbying for just laws or dividing cookies between children, God desires each of us to apply justice within our sphere of influence.
Virtue 6: Prudence
Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? —Luke 16:10-12
In the time of the medieval knight, prudent action made the difference between life and death, wealth or poverty, health or illness, safety or turmoil, marriage or no marriage, and children or no children. It is no different for today’s knight. Making prudent decisions daily will help lead to a fruitful and effective life.
A LEGACY IN CHRIST
May these virtues guide the Knights Templar Order of St Michael toward faithful service, spiritual maturity, and a lasting legacy. A true knight grows through practice, serves others with love, and keeps pressing forward in Christ.