Temperance in All Things
303
from a debased appetite, that those who love purity and holiness may
know how to use with discretion the good things He has provided for
them, and that by exercising temperance in daily life, they may be
sanctified through the truth
Temperance Precedes Sanctification—God’s people are to learn
the meaning of temperance in all things.... All self-indulgence is to
be cut away from their lives. Before they can really understand the
meaning of true sanctification and of conformity to the will of Christ,
they must, by co-operating with God, obtain the mastery over wrong
habits and practices
In Study—Intemperance in study is a species of intoxication; and
those who indulge in it, like the drunkard, wander from safe paths
and stumble and fall in the darkness. The Lord would have every
student bear in mind that the eye must be kept single to the glory of
God. He is not to exhaust and waste his physical and mental powers
[397]
in seeking to acquire all possible knowledge of the sciences, but is
to preserve the freshness and vigor of all his powers to engage in the
work which the Lord has appointed him in helping souls to find the
path of righteousness
In Work—We should practice temperance in our labor. It is not
our duty to place ourselves where we shall be overworked. Some
may at times be placed where this is necessary, but it should be the
exception, not the rule. We are to practice temperance in all things.
If we honor the Lord by acting our part, He will on His part preserve
our health. We should have a sensible control of all our organs. By
practicing temperance in eating, in drinking, in dressing, in labor, and
in all things, we can do for ourselves what no physician can do for
us
As a rule, the labor of the day should not be prolonged into the
evening.... I have been shown that those who do this often lose much
more than they gain, for their energies are exhausted, and they labor
on nervous excitement. They may not realize any immediate injury,
but they are surely undermining their constitution
10
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 52
.
11
Medical Ministry, 275
.
12
Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 405, 406
.
13
Temperance, 139
.
14
Counsels on Health, 99
.