It is said, “Character is simply habit long continued” (Plutarch). In other words, take note—your habits are shaping you into someone. The only question is: are you becoming more virtuous… or more vicious?

The bonds of virtuous habit are formed by doing the good and right thing in every situation, big or small—whether you feel like it or not. Virtue grows from a single good act into a series of good acts, into a loose habit, into a firm habit, and finally into a virtue—fully habituated into your character and soul. This is the turning point, where it goes from being hard to do the good and right thing to becoming harder not to do the good and right thing when the opportunity presents itself.

But how do you know the good and right thing to do in every situation? How do you discern virtue in a world so clouded with confusion? It starts with the renewing of your mind.

The intellect is the inner weaver of character. What you allow to enter your mind—day after day—shapes the thoughts you dwell on, which shape the choices you make, which shape the person you become. Though grace is the loom, your thoughts are the thread. To become who God wills you to be, you must guard and guide your mind with intention—choosing to dwell not on what is fleeting or false, but on what is good, true, and eternal. For what fills the mind eventually shapes the soul—forming the pattern of your character.

Scripture says, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

To form your intellect means to reorient your thoughts away from the false promises of the world and toward the truth of God. It means unlearning the lies of culture and relearning the ways of Christ. It is not a passive shift, but an intentional reprogramming—replacing noise with wisdom, scrolling with Scripture, trash with Truth.

This is the divine order of the soul: the intellect leads the will, and the will leads the passions. But if the mind is weak, the will falters. And if the will falters, the passions rule. So if you want to bring order to your soul, begin with your intellect. Train it. Fill it with virtue. Sharpen it on the whetstone of Truth. For a strong mind strengthens the will, and a strong will orders the passions, aligning the whole soul toward God.

Thus, the way to cross the valley from—ignorance to wisdom, fearfulness to bravery, self-indulgence to self-control, unfaithfulness to faithfulness, living in illusion to living in truth—is to build a bridge of knowledge and understanding in the Word of God.

“For the Scriptures are shallow enough for a babe to come and drink without fear of drowning and deep enough for theologians to swim in without ever reaching the bottom” (St. Jerome). This is what enlightens your intellect to the ways of Christ and the life of virtue. And in this renewal, you turn the rudder of your free will toward union with God’s will, opening the sails of your soul, allowing the grace of the Holy Spirit to fill you and carry you ever onward.

This is how minds are sharpened. This is how characters are shaped. This is how lives are transformed.

“Let each of us accept the truth of the following statement and try to make it our most fundamental principle: Christ's teaching will never let us down, while worldly wisdom always will. Christ Himself said that this sort of wisdom was like a house with nothing but sand as its foundation, while His own was like a building with solid rock as its foundation” (St. Vincent de Paul).

So choose to sharpen your intellect daily. Fill your mind with what is good, noble, and true. For it is only by a renewed mind that you will clearly see the narrow will of God—and joyfully live in it.