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Counsels for the Church
striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” He exhorts all who
call themselves Christians to present their bodies “a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God.” He says: “I keep under my body, and
bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached
to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
It is not pure love which actuates a man to make his wife an
instrument to minister to his lust. It is the animal passions which
clamor for indulgence. How few men show their love in the manner
specified by the apostle: “Even as Christ also loved the church, and
gave Himself for it; that He might [not pollute it, but] sanctify and
cleanse it; ... that it should be holy and without blemish.” This is the
quality of love in the marriage relation which God recognizes as holy.
Love is a pure and holy principle, but lustful passion will not admit of
restraint and will not be dictated to or controlled by reason. It is blind
to consequences; it will not reason from cause to effect.
Satan Seeks to Weaken Self-Control
Satan seeks to lower the standard of purity and to weaken the self-
control of those who enter the marriage relation, because he knows
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that while the baser passions are in the ascendancy, the moral powers
grow steadily weaker, and he need have no concern as to their spiritual
growth. He knows, too, that in no way can he better stamp his own
hateful image upon their offspring, and that he can thus mold their
character even more readily than he can the character of the parents.
Men and women, you will one day learn what is lust and the result
of its gratification. Passion of just as base a quality may be found in
the marriage relation as outside of it.
What is the result of giving loose rein to the lower passions? The
bedchamber, where angels of God should preside, is made unholy by
unholy practices. And because shameful animalism rules, bodies are
corrupted; loathsome practices lead to loathsome diseases. That which
God has given as a blessing is made a curse.
Sexual excess will effectually destroy a love for devotional exer-
cises, will take from the brain the substance needed to nourish the
system, and will most effectively exhaust the vitality. No woman
should aid her husband in this work of self-destruction. She will not
do it if she is enlightened and has true love for him.