Top 3 Most Overrated Christian Virtues

#1  Grace.  So often we mess up and fall short of goals we have for ourselves.  So often we are bombarded by our friends and family with mistakes and insults.  We sin.  They sin.  It all effects us.  And what Christian virtue should be our response?  Grace.
What good is to show good to those who hate you?
What purpose is there in forgiving someone who certainly does not deserve it?
Why should we respond with gentleness when the situation is a prickly pear?
     God asks us to have grace with ourselves.  God asks us to have grace with one another (Colossians 4:6).  He asks us to have Grace in those situations because He first had grace for us (Ephesians 2:4-9).  God showed us goodness when we were all still sinners going our own way.   God showed us grace when we did not deserve it.  God blesses us with gentleness when we have been prickly pears.
     Perhaps gace is not overrated at all.  It is grace that patches up marriages.  It is grace that allows a child to forgive the mistakes of his or her parents time after time (and they don't even know they are doing it).  It is grace that keeps us from slipping into anarchy in our personal lives because we are not held truly accountable by those we love for the mistakes we make.  Grace is definitely not overrated... it makes the world go 'round.

#2  Perseverance.  Perseverance is keeping...  Oh, never mind.

#3  Hope.  One of my favorite movies has a quote about hope.  In the wildly popular movie The Postman, one character addresses The Postman in saying, "You have a gift, Postman. You give out hope like it was candy in your pocket."  Is hope candy?  What is the use of candy when you have no job or your parent is ill or your kid makes life changing mistakes?  What is there good to hope for in this world?
     The answer to the last question is absolutely nothing.  Hope in this world leads to disappointment.  The Hope that a Christian talks about is not hope in a better job or in a neighbor or in their favorite baseball team. Hope for the Christian rests in Jesus Christ alone (1 Timothy 1:1).  
     Jesus must be the source of our hope.  Our world fails us.  Our spouses fail us.  Our investments fail us.  We fail ourselves.  Jesus never fails.  Not one time since the dawn of "Let there be light" has God made a promise that He has not fulfilled.  So many promises came true in Jesus Christ which is why He is the source and object of our hope.  Hope is definitely not overrated... it makes the world go 'round.