Become Better Every Day

Characteristics of perfection — The good person — Good Spiritists — Parable of the sower — Instructions from the Spirits: duty, virtue, responsibility of those who exercise authority, life in society, and care for body and Spirit.

Characteristics of perfection

1. Jesus teaches: love your enemies, do good to those who wish you harm, and pray for those who persecute you. God makes the sun rise and the rain fall on both just and unjust people. Loving only those who love us is not enough; the invitation is to widen our love. That is why Jesus says: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:44-48)

2. Kardec explains that this phrase does not mean a person can reach God's absolute perfection. God is presented as a model toward which we should direct our efforts.

The perfection possible for human beings would therefore be continuous moral progress. For the work, its center is charity understood broadly: love, do good, and do not answer evil with more evil.

Kardec relates moral faults mainly to selfishness and pride because they weaken kindness, understanding, willingness to help, and the ability to consider another person's needs.

Thus, the broader and more genuine our love for our neighbor — including difficult people — the greater our moral progress would be. It is in this sense that the work interprets Jesus' invitation to perfection.

The good person

3. For Kardec, a good person seeks to live with justice, love, and charity. They examine their conscience and ask whether they harmed someone, failed to do a good deed within reach, or treated others differently from how they would like to be treated.

They trust in God and value spiritual growth above material advantages. The work interprets difficulties and disappointments within its spiritual view of trials and learning. This does not mean ignoring suffering or injustice or failing to seek help when needed.

Someone who practices charity seeks to do good without expecting advantage, defends those who are vulnerable, and prefers justice to personal benefit.

This person's satisfaction lies in the good they can produce: helping, serving, comforting, and reducing suffering. They also think of others and treat everyone with humanity, without discrimination based on origin or belief.

They respect sincere beliefs different from their own and avoid hurting others through pride, contempt, or cruel words. They do not feed hatred or desire for revenge.

They try to forgive, remembering that they too need understanding. The idea is consistent with Jesus' words: “Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Instead of looking for faults in order to humiliate others, they observe their own imperfections and work to improve. They also do not need to diminish anyone to highlight their own qualities.

They do not turn personal advantages, social position, or possessions into reasons for pride because they recognize that these conditions can change.

In the previous edition, “condemnation” appears with the meaning of severe criticism.

They use their possessions responsibly and do not place them only at the service of personal desires. When they exercise authority over others, they should treat them with respect and dignity.

Authority should serve to support and guide, not humiliate. In the same way, each person seeks to fulfill their responsibilities conscientiously. The central principle is to respect the rights of others as we would like our own rights to be respected.

The list is not meant to exhaust every quality of a good person. For the work, the sincere effort to develop these attitudes already indicates a path of progress.

Good Spiritists

4. Kardec states that Spiritism, when truly understood and lived, should produce moral transformation. For him, the Doctrine does not create a new morality but seeks to make Jesus' teachings easier to understand and practice.

Merely believing in spiritual manifestations does not mean understanding their moral meaning. The main question, for Kardec, is whether this knowledge produces any concrete change in the way a person lives.

Moral understanding would not depend on extraordinary intelligence or extensive academic education. Simple people can also understand these principles deeply.

According to the work, there is a difference between observing phenomena and developing moral sensitivity. This maturity is not measured only by age or level of study.

Kardec notes that some people accept the existence of Spirits only as a curious fact, without it changing their habits or priorities.

They may be more interested in phenomena and supposed mysteries than in the moral consequences of the teaching. The work calls this Spiritism still incomplete in practice.

Other people step back when they realize that the teaching requires personal transformation. For Kardec, accepting the Doctrine is only a first step; the decisive point is the effort to improve one's own conduct.

The work describes a sincere Spiritist as someone deeply touched by the moral meaning of what they believe, not merely interested in phenomena.

Kardec summarizes this idea by saying that a true Spiritist is recognized by moral transformation and by the efforts made to overcome their own harmful tendencies.

Parable of the sower

5. Jesus tells the parable of the sower. Some seeds fall on the path and are eaten by birds.

Others fall on rocky ground, grow quickly, but dry up because they do not develop roots. Others fall among thorns and are choked. Finally, some seeds fall on good soil and produce much fruit. (Matthew 13:1-9)

In the explanation of the parable, the seed represents the teaching received. When a person does not understand it or it does not take root, it may disappear at the first difficulties.

Worries and attachment to possessions can also choke what was learned. Good soil represents those who understand the teaching and turn it into attitudes and concrete results. (Matthew 13:18-23)

6. Kardec applies the parable to the different ways people receive the Gospel. A teaching that never reaches practice is compared to a seed that produces no fruit.

The same would apply to someone interested only in phenomena or who admires good advice but always imagines that it applies to others and never to themselves.

Good soil represents those who turn what they learned into personal change and useful actions.

Instructions from the Spirits

Duty

Lazarus - Paris, 1863

7. Duty is the moral responsibility we have first toward ourselves and then toward others. It appears in the small choices of daily life and also in the most important decisions. Here we are speaking of moral duty, not the obligations of a profession.

Doing what is right is not always easy. Our interests and desires often pull us in the opposite direction. No one needs to be watching for conscience to show us when we are acting well or badly. We are free to choose, but we also need to take responsibility for our choices.

When we listen to conscience and act honestly, we grow morally.

Where does our duty begin? It begins when our actions can harm another person's happiness or peace. And it extends to the limit that we ourselves would not want someone else to cross with us.

All people, regardless of social condition or knowledge, can feel pain. This shared experience helps us understand the suffering we can cause another person. Therefore, we cannot say that we are completely unaware of the consequences of harm.

Duty summarizes moral principles in practice. It requires courage to face difficulties and firmness in the face of temptation. Whoever fulfills their duty places God above everything, considers their neighbor before selfishness, and learns to evaluate their own attitudes honestly.

The value of duty is not in avoiding all life's problems, because no one is free from them. Its value is in strengthening the soul and helping moral growth.

As humanity evolves, our understanding of duty also expands. Moral responsibility before God does not end: we are called to develop the qualities of goodness more and more.

Virtue

François-Nicolas-Madeleine - Paris, 1863

8. Virtue brings together qualities such as kindness, charity, responsible work, balance, and modesty. The work warns that displaying one's virtues can weaken them when the search for recognition turns into pride.

Sincere virtue does not need advertising. Kardec cites people known for their dedication to good and recalls that many others, unknown to the public, do good without seeking admiration.

The invitation is to practice good simply, avoiding vanity and the need to present oneself as a model for others.

When the main concern is to appear virtuous, appearance can hide very different behavior. For the work, constantly praising oneself reduces the moral value of what one does.

It is natural to feel satisfaction when doing good. The problem begins when this satisfaction becomes a search for praise and superiority. The message is to prefer simple and modest virtue to many good deeds turned into reasons for pride.

The work contrasts pride and humility: the first moves us away from moral progress; the second helps us recognize our limits and continue learning.

Responsibility of those who exercise authority

Morlot - Paris, 1863

9. For the work, authority and wealth are temporary responsibilities, not a right to dominate other people. Whoever receives power must answer for how they use it.

A position of authority can change or disappear. Therefore, Kardec presents it as a mission or trial, not as a sign of personal superiority.

The original text uses examples linked to nineteenth-century social structures, including slavery. This reflects the historical context of the work and does not represent an acceptable social model today. The moral principle we draw here is simple: the greater the power over decisions that affect other people, the greater the responsibility to respect their dignity, freedom, and rights.

Every responsibility, small or large, should be used to produce good. The central question changes from “how much power do I have?” to “what am I doing with the power I have?”

Whoever holds a higher position should not treat other people as instruments of their will. To lead, in this view, means to support, guide, and create conditions so that others can grow as well.

The Doctrine reminds us that social positions are temporary. This reinforces the idea of mutual respect and the responsibility of those who exercise authority.

The work also speaks about the responsibilities of those in subordinate positions. Its original language relates professional difficulties to experiences in other existences; this is a doctrinal interpretation and should not be used to justify exploitation, abuse, harassment, or violations of labor rights.

Patience and humility do not mean accepting violence or injustice. In practical life, fulfilling responsibilities conscientiously can coexist with setting limits, seeking protection, and defending rights.

The moral principle remains: carry out the work assumed honestly and avoid deliberately harming others, regardless of the position occupied.

Life in society

A Protective Spirit - Bordeaux, 1863

10. This message recommends that meetings for prayer and reflection be held sincerely, seeking thoughts of charity and justice.

This does not mean abandoning ordinary life or living in isolation. The proposal is to participate in society and daily activities while maintaining spiritual awareness and moral responsibility.

Virtue does not require a sad appearance or rejection of all joy. It is possible to live, socialize, and enjoy legitimate pleasures without harming other people.

The message recommends remembering God in daily activities and guiding one's actions by charity, whatever one's social position.

Living together offers concrete opportunities to learn patience, cooperation, and charity. For this reason, the text criticizes the idea that moral progress requires isolation or voluntary suffering.

The message ends by inviting us to live with joy and love, avoiding attitudes that consciously harm others.

Care for body and Spirit

George, Protective Spirit - Paris, 1863

11. The message asks whether moral perfection requires punishing or weakening the body. Its answer is no.

Body and emotional state influence each other. The message recommends caring for physical health because the body participates in our experience and needs attention. This spiritual reflection does not replace medical or psychological guidance when necessary.

The text rejects two extremes: mistreating the body in the name of spirituality and reducing all existence only to material needs. The proposal is to seek balance.

In the Spiritist view presented, body and Spirit both need care. Respecting the body's natural needs is not contrary to spiritual development.

Punishing one's own body does not make anyone kinder. Moral progress would be in transforming attitudes: reducing selfishness and pride and developing charity, responsibility, and respect.

In current language, the conclusion is to work on our own will and habits in order to direct them toward good — without violence against the body and without self-punishment practices.