Evangelical†means “Gospel.†Thus this term means a way of life based on the Gospel through the practice of the virtues of poverty, chastity, and obedience. All Christians are called to the practice of these Gospel virtues as appropriate to their state in life. The term is usually understood to mean the three vows or bonds of poverty, chastity, and obedience as professed by those who choose to live a consecrated life. Chastity: Members of religious communities choose to share love and friendship with all of God's people and not make a commitment to one particular person. This enables the religious to love everyone with the love of Jesus. Poverty: Members of religious communities live simply and hold all things in common, sharing with the community his or her talents, money, and material goods in order to better minister to others and support the community Obedience: Members of religious communities listen to God's will as it is made known to them through prayer and their community, so as to serve the needs of all through the charism, or ministry, of the community
The evangelical counsels or counsels of perfection are chastity, poverty and obedience (cf. canons 599-601). Various Christian Churches see them not as the necessary condition for attaining to eternal life, but principles which Jesus expressly stated were not to be considered as binding upon all, or as necessary conditions without which heaven could not be attained, but rather as counsels for those who desired to do more than the minimum, in supererogatory acts.