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174
Temperance
Counteracting Inherited Tendencies
—Parents may have
transmitted to their children tendencies to appetite and passion,
which will make more difficult the work of educating and training
these children to be strictly temperate and to have pure and virtuous
[175]
habits. If the appetite for unhealthy food and for stimulants and
narcotics has been transmitted to them as a legacy from their parents,
what a fearfully solemn responsibility rests upon the parents to coun-
teract the evil tendencies which they have given to their children!
How earnestly and diligently should the parents work to do their
duty, in faith and hope, to their unfortunate offspring!—
Testimonies
for the Church 3:567, 568
.
To Breast the Tide of Evil
—Many suffer in consequence of the
transgression of their parents. While they are not responsible for
what their parents have done, it is nevertheless their duty to ascertain
what are and what are not violations of the laws of health. They
should avoid the wrong habits of their parents, and by correct living,
place themselves in better conditions.—
The Ministry of Healing,
234
.
Greater Moral Power Now Required
—The necessity for the
men of this generation to call to their aid the power of the will,
strengthened by the grace of God, in order to withstand the tempta-
tions of Satan, and resist the least indulgence of perverted appetite, is
far greater than it was several generations ago. But the present gener-
ation have less power of self-control than had those who lived then.
Those who indulged in these stimulants transmitted their depraved
appetites and passions to their children, and greater moral power
is now required to resist intemperance in all its forms. The only
perfectly safe course is to stand firm, observing strict temperance in
all things, and never venturing into the path of danger.—
Christian
Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 37
.