Poverty Chastity Obedience

In Christianity, the three evangelical counsels, or counsels of perfection, are poverty, chastity, and obedience. As stated by Jesus Christ in the canonical gospels, they are counsels for those who desire to become "perfect" (τελειος, teleios). The Catholic Church interprets this to mean that they are not binding upon all, and hence not necessary conditions to attain eternal life (heaven), but that they are "acts of supererogation", "over and above" the minimum stipulated in the biblical commandments. Catholics and Lutherans who have made a public profession to order their lives by the evangelical counsels, and confirmed this by public vows before their competent church authority (the act of religious commitment known as a profession), are recognised as members of the consecrated life.