Diet and Spirituality
77
Testimonies for the Church 2:66
You need clear, energetic minds, in order to appreciate the exalted
character of the truth, to value the atonement, and to place the right
estimate upon eternal things. If you pursue a wrong course, and
indulge in wrong habits of eating, and thereby weaken the intellectual
powers, you will not place that high estimate upon salvation and
eternal life which will inspire you to conform your life to the life of
Christ; you will not make those earnest, self-sacrificing efforts for
entire conformity to the will of God, which His word requires and
which are necessary to give you a moral fitness for the finishing touch
of immortality.
Manuscript 93, 1901
What a pity it is that often, when the greatest self-denial should be
exercised, the stomach is crowded with a mass of unhealthful food,
which lies there to decompose. The affliction of the stomach affects
the brain. The imprudent eater does not realize that he is disqualifying
himself for giving wise counsel, disqualifying himself for laying plans
for the best advancement of the work of God. But this is so. He can
not discern spiritual things, and in council meetings, when he should
say Yea and Amen, he says Nay. He makes propositions that are wide
of the mark. The food he has eaten has benumbed his brain power.
Self-indulgence debars the human agent from witnessing for the
truth. The gratitude we offer to God for His blessings is greatly affected
by the food placed in the stomach. Indulgence of appetite is the cause
of dissension, strife, discord and many other evils. Impatient words are
spoken and unkind deeds are done, dishonest practices are followed
and passion is manifested, and all because the nerves of the brain are
diseased by the abuse heaped upon the stomach.
Testimonies for the Church 9:156
God requires of His people continual advancement. We need
to learn that indulged appetite is the greatest hindrance to mental
improvement and soul sanctification. With all our profession of health
reform, many of us eat improperly. Indulgence of appetite is the
greatest cause of physical and mental debility, and lies largely at the
foundation of feebleness and premature death. Let the individual who