It could be said that practicing the virtues cause growth, but it goes deeper than that. Just practicing the virtues can make us just as legalistic as following the law. For us to truly grow we must take the spirit of the virtues within us. We must look at the meaning and the intent of the virtues. This is more that us taking the virture inside of and saying, for instance, I love people. For us to truly have love in our lives, we must become love. Just as God is love, we also must be love. (This applies to all the virtues .....) What does this mean practically?