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Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods
diet, he can eat just as much as he pleases. Overeating, no matter what
the quality of the food, clogs the living machine, and thus hinders it in
its work.
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 53-54
The apostle Peter understood the relation between the mind and
the body, and raised his voice in warning to his brethren: “Dearly
beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly
lusts, which war against the soul.” Many regard this text as a warning
against licentiousness only; but it has a broader meaning. It forbids
every injurious gratification of appetite or passion. Every perverted
appetite becomes a warring lust. Appetite was given us for a good
purpose, not to become the minister of death by being perverted, and
thus degenerating into “lusts which war against the soul.” ...
The strength of the temptation to indulge appetite can be measured
only by the inexpressible anguish of our Redeemer in that long fast
in the wilderness. He knew that the indulgence of perverted appetite
would so deaden man’s perceptions that sacred things could not be
discerned. Adam fell by the indulgence of appetite; Christ overcame
by the denial of appetite. And our only hope of regaining Eden is
through firm self-control. If the power of indulged appetite was so
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strong upon the race, that, in order to break its hold, the divine Son of
God, in man’s behalf, had to endure a fast of nearly six weeks, what
a work is before the Christian! Yet, however great the struggle, he
may overcome. By the help of that divine power which withstood the
fiercest temptations that Satan could invent, he too may be entirely
successful in his warfare with evil, and at last may wear the victor’s
crown in the kingdom of God.
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 75-76
Many a mother, even among those who profess to be Christians,
is daily setting before her household rich and highly seasoned food,
which tempts the appetite and encourages overeating. In some families,
flesh-meats constitute the principal article of diet, and in consequence,
the blood is filled with cancerous and scrofulous humors. Then when
suffering and disease follow, Providence is charged with that which is
the result of a wrong course. I repeat: intemperance begins at the table,