Why Do I Do What I Don’t Want to Do? Replace Deadly Vices with Life-Giving Virtues

We live in an upside-down culture. We wink at our vices as coping strategies while restricting our virtues to our online personas, where they won’t interfere with our real lives. And we wonder why we feel empty, exhausted, and directionless. But why do we do things that we know are harmful for us?

Jonathan “JP” Pokluda wants you to know there’s a better, more fulfilling way to live, and it doesn’t involve looking inside yourself for the answers–because that’s not where you’ll find them. With his signature wit and wisdom, he explains, unpacks, and expands on the age-old virtues we’re told to pursue in Scripture: humility, forgiveness, generosity, diligence, self-control, authenticity, rest, and optimism. Far from being restrictive, these God-given goals for living free us to love and live as we wish we would.

Practicing virtues is not just something you do–it’s something done in you, slowly but surely transforming you into the person you were meant to be all along. Whether you’re 18 or 80, it’s never too late to redefine what’s important to you and reclaim a life of virtue.

Jonathan "JP" Pokluda is teaching pastor at Watermark Community Church, with an average weekly attendance of 12,000 people, and leader of The Porch, an influential gathering of thousands of young adults who come hear the gospel and get equipped for Kingdom purposes.

Pokluda came to understand the grace of the Gospel in his early twenties after being involved in different denominational churches his entire life. This ignited a desire in him to reach people in their twenties and thirties for Christ.

He lives with his wife, Monica, and their three children.