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Chapter 1—What True Temperance Embodies
Reaching the Highest Degree of Perfection
—“Whether there-
fore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of
God.”
Only one lease of life is granted us; and the inquiry with everyone
should be, How can I invest my life so that it will yield the greatest
profit? How can I do most for the glory of God and the benefit of my
fellow men? For life is valuable only as it is used for the attainment
of these objects.
Our first duty toward God and our fellow beings is that of self-
development. Every faculty with which the Creator has endowed us
should be cultivated to the highest degree of perfection, that we may
be able to do the greatest amount of good of which we are capable.
Hence that time is spent to good account which is directed to the
establishment and preservation of sound physical and mental health.
We cannot afford to dwarf or cripple a single function of mind or
body by overwork or by abuse of any part of the living machinery.
As surely as we do this, we must suffer the consequences.
Intemperance, in the true sense of the word, is at the foundation
of the larger share of the ills of life, and it annually destroys its
tens of thousands. For intemperance is not limited to the use of
intoxicating liquors; it has a broader meaning, and includes the
hurtful indulgence of any appetite or passion.—
The Signs of the
Times, November 17, 1890
.
[138]
Excess in Eating, Drinking, Sleeping, and Seeing
—Excessive
indulgence in eating, drinking, sleeping, or seeing, is sin. The
harmonious healthy action of all the powers of body and mind results
in happiness; and the more elevated and refined the powers, the more
pure and unalloyed the happiness.—
Testimonies for the Church
4:417
.
Temperance in the Food Eaten
—The principles of temperance
must be carried further than the mere use of spirituous liquors. The
use of stimulating and indigestible food is often equally injurious
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