Seek to Be Temperate in All Things, July 8

Seek to Be Temperate in All Things, July 8

In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death. Proverbs 12:28, NKJV.

God has permitted the light of health reform to shine upon us in these last days, that by walking in the light we may escape many of the dangers to which we shall be exposed. Satan is working with great power to lead men and women to indulge appetite, gratify inclination, and spend their days in heedless folly. He presents attractions in a life of selfish enjoyment and of sensual indulgence.

Intemperance saps the energies of both mind and body. Those who are thus overcome have placed themselves upon Satan’s ground, where they will be tempted and annoyed, and finally controlled at pleasure by the enemy of all righteousness.

Parents need to be impressed with their obligation to give to the world children having well-developed characters—children who will have moral power to resist temptation, and whose life will be an honor to God and a blessing to others. Those who enter upon active life with firm principles will be prepared to stand unsullied amid the moral pollutions of this corrupt age. Let mothers improve every opportunity to educate their children for usefulness.

The work of the mother is sacred and important. She should teach her children, from the cradle up, habits of self-denial and self-control. Her time, in a special sense, belongs to her children. But if it is mostly occupied with the follies of this degenerate age, if society, dress, and amusements absorb her attention, her children will fail to be suitably educated....

Intemperance begins at the table, and, with the majority, appetite is indulged until indulgence becomes second nature. Whoever eats too much, or of food which is not healthful, is weakening the power to resist the clamors of other appetites and passions.

Many parents, to avoid the task of patiently educating their children to habits of self-denial, indulge them in eating and drinking whenever they please. The desire to satisfy the taste and to gratify inclination does not lessen with the increase of years; and these indulged youth, as they grow up, are governed by impulse, slaves to appetite. When they take their places in society, and begin life for themselves, they are powerless to resist temptation.—Christian Education, 175-177. [203]