Christ’s Methods to be Followed
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it might be prevented by attention to the laws of health. The people
need to see the bearing of health principles upon their well-being, both
for this life and for the life to come. They need to be awakened to
their responsibility for the human habitation fitted up by their Creator
as His dwelling place, and over which He desires them to be faithful
stewards.
Thousands need and would gladly receive instruction concerning
the simple methods of treating the sick, methods that are taking the
place of the use of poisonous drugs. There is great need of instruction
in regard to dietetic reform. Wrong habits of eating and the use of un-
healthful food are in no small degree responsible for the intemperance
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and crime and wretchedness that curse the world.
In teaching health principles, keep before the mind the great object
of reform—that its purpose is to secure the highest development of
body and mind and soul. Show that the laws of nature, being the laws
of God, are designed for our good; that obedience to them promotes
happiness in this life, and aids in the preparation for the life to come.
Encourage the people to study that marvelous organism, the human
system, and the laws by which it is governed. Those who perceive the
evidences of God’s love, who understand something of the wisdom
and beneficence of His laws and the results of obedience, will come to
regard their duties and obligations from an altogether different point
of view. Instead of looking upon an observance of the laws of health
as a matter of sacrifice or self-denial, they will regard it as it really is,
an inestimable blessing.
Teach the Health Reform Principles
Every gospel worker should feel that to teach the principles of
healthful living is a part of his appointed work. Of this work there is
great need, and the world is open for it.
Christ commits to His followers an individual work—a work that
cannot be done by proxy. Ministry to the sick and the poor, the giving
of the gospel to the lost, is not to be left to committees or organized
charities. Individual responsibility, individual effort, personal sacrifice,
are the requirement of the gospel.
“Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come
in,” is Christ’s demand, “that My house may be filled.”
Luke 14:23
.