Diet and Spirituality
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and denial of self, as did their Redeemer. It is only through obedience
and continual effort that we shall overcome as Christ overcame.
The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands,
when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral
power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan. But
those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian char-
acter. The continual transgression of man for six thousand years has
brought sickness, pain and death as its fruits. And as we near the close
of time, Satan’s temptation to indulge appetite will be more power-
ful and more difficult to overcome. It is only through obedience and
continual effort that we shall overcome as Christ overcame.
Testimonies for the Church 3:486-487
The Redeemer of the world knew that the indulgence of appetite
would bring physical debility, and so deaden the perceptive organs that
sacred and eternal things would not be discerned. Christ knew that the
world was given up to gluttony, and that this indulgence would pervert
the moral powers. If the indulgence of appetite was so strong upon the
race that, in order to break its power, the divine Son of God, in behalf
of man, was required to fast nearly six weeks, what a work is before
the Christian in order that he may overcome even as Christ overcame!
The strength of the temptation to indulge perverted appetite can be
measured only by the inexpressible anguish of Christ in that long fast
in the wilderness.
Christ knew that in order to successfully carry forward the plan of
salvation He must commence the work of redeeming man just where
the ruin began. Adam fell by the indulgence of appetite. In order
to impress upon man his obligations to obey the law of God, Christ
began His work of redemption by reforming the physical habits of
man. The declension in virtue and the degeneracy of the race are
chiefly attributable to the indulgence of perverted appetite.
There is a solemn responsibility upon all, especially upon ministers
who teach the truth, to overcome upon the point of appetite. Their
usefulness would be much greater if they had control of their appetites
and passions; and their mental and moral powers would be stronger
if they combined physical labor with mental exertion. With strictly
temperate habits, and with mental and physical labor combined, they