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Chapter 1—Abstain From Fleshy Lusts
There Is Always a Reaction
—Under the head of stimulants and
narcotics is classed a great variety of articles that, altogether used
as food or drink, irritate the stomach, poison the blood, and excite
the nerves. Their use is a positive evil. Men seek the excitement of
stimulants, because, for the time, the results are agreeable. But there
is always a reaction. The use of unnatural stimulants always tends to
excess, and it is an active agent in promoting physical degeneration
and decay.—
The Ministry of Healing, 325
.
Peter’s All-Inclusive Warning
—“Abstain from fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul,” is the language of the apostle Peter.
Many regard this warning as applicable only to the licentious; but it
has a broader meaning. It guards against every injurious gratification
of appetite or passion. It is a most forcible warning against the use
of such stimulants and narcotics as tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol, and
morphine. These indulgences may well be classed among the lusts
that exert a pernicious influence upon moral character. The earlier
these hurtful habits are formed, the more firmly will they hold their
victim in slavery to lust, and the more certainly will they lower the
standard of spirituality.—
Counsels on Diet and Foods, 62, 63
.
Lessens Physical and Mental Activity
—Never be betrayed
into indulging in the use of stimulants: for this will result not only in
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reaction and loss of physical strength, but in a benumbed intellect.—
Testimonies for the Church 4:214
.
Vital energy is imparted to the mind through the brain; therefore
the brain should never be dulled by the use of narcotics or excited by
the use of stimulants. Brain, bone, and muscle, are to be brought into
harmonious action, that all may work as well-regulated machines,
each part acting in harmony, not one being overtaxed.—
Letter 100,
1898
.
When those who are in the habit of using tea, coffee, tobacco,
opium, or spirituous liquors, are deprived of the accustomed in-
dulgence, they find it impossible to engage with interest and zeal
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