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Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods
them, why their minds are so dull, why their religious aspirations are
so feeble, they need not, in many instances, go farther than the table;
here is cause enough, if there were no other.
Many separate themselves from God by their indulgence of ap-
petite. He who notices the fall of a sparrow, who numbers the very
hairs of the head, marks the sin of those who indulge perverted ap-
petite at the expense of weakening the physical powers, benumbing
the intellect, and deadening the moral perceptions.
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 150-151
Providence has been leading the people of God out from the ex-
travagant habits of the world, away from the indulgence of appetite
and passion, to take their stand upon the platform of self-denial, and
temperance in all things. The people whom God is leading will be
peculiar. They will not be like the world. If they follow the leadings
of God, they will accomplish His purposes, and will yield their will to
His will. Christ will dwell in the heart. The temple of God will be holy.
Your body, says the apostle, is the temple of the Holy Ghost. God does
not require His children to deny themselves to the injury of physical
strength. He requires them to obey natural law, in order to preserve
physical health. Nature’s path is the road He marks out, and it is broad
enough for any Christian. With a lavish hand God has provided us
with rich and varied bounties for our sustenance and enjoyment. But
in order for us to enjoy the natural appetite, which will preserve health
and prolong life, He restricts the appetite. He says, Beware! restrain,
deny, unnatural appetite. If we create a perverted appetite, we violate
the laws of our being, and assume the responsibility of abusing our
bodies and of bringing disease upon ourselves.
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 154
As a people, with all our profession of health reform, we eat too
much. Indulgence of appetite is the greatest cause of physical and
mental debility, and lies at the foundation of a large share of the
feebleness which is apparent everywhere.
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