How to Present the Principles of Health Reform
235
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.
Lead the people to study the manifestation of God’s love and
wisdom in the works of nature. Lead them 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, as an inestimable blessing.
Every gospel worker should feel that the giving of instruction in
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.
The Ministry of Healing, 156-157
In all your work remember that you are bound up with Christ, a
part of the great plan of redemption. The love of Christ, in a healing,
life-giving current, is to flow through your life. As you seek to draw
others within the circle of His love, let the purity of your language,
the unselfishness of your service, the joyfulness of your demeanor,
bear witness to the power of His grace. Give to the world so pure and
righteous a representation of Him, that men shall behold Him in His
beauty.
It is of little use to try to reform others by attacking what we may
regard as wrong habits. Such effort often results in more harm than
good. In His talk with the Samaritan woman, instead of disparaging
Jacob’s well, Christ presented something better. “If thou knewest the
gift of God,” He said, “and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to
drink; thou wouldst have asked of Him, and He would have given thee
living water.” He turned the conversation to the treasure He had to
bestow, offering the woman something better than she possessed, even
living water, the joy and hope of the gospel.