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Temperance, March 11
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
.
God requires all men to render their bodies to Him a living sacrifice, not
a dead or a dying sacrifice, a sacrifice which their own course of action is
debilitating, filling with impurities and disease. God calls for a living sacrifice.
The body, He tells us, is the temple of the Holy Ghost, the habitation of His
Spirit, and He requires all who bear His image to take care of their bodies
for the purpose of His service and His glory. “Ye are not your own,” says
the inspired apostle, “ye are bought with a price”; wherefore “glorify God in
your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (
1 Corinthians 6:19, 20
). In
order to do this, add to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and
to temperance patience.
It is a duty to know how to preserve the body in the very best condition of
health, and it is a sacred duty to live up to the light which God has graciously
given. If we close our eyes to the light for fear we shall see our wrongs, which
we are unwilling to forsake, our sins are not lessened but increased. If light is
turned from in one case, it will be disregarded in another.
It is just as much sin to violate the laws of our being as to break one of
the Ten Commandments, for we cannot do either without breaking God’s law.
We cannot love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength while we
are loving our appetites, our tastes, a great deal better than we love the Lord.
We are daily lessening our strength to glorify God, when He requires all our
strength, all our mind. By our wrong habits we are lessening our hold on life,
and yet professing to be Christ’s followers, preparing for the finishing touch
of immortality....
Closely examine your own hearts, and in your lives imitate the unerring
Pattern, and all will be well with you. Preserve a clear conscience before
God. In all you do glorify His name. Divest yourselves of selfishness and
selfish love.—
Testimonies for the Church 2:70, 71
.
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