Healthful Living

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Chapter 5—Blessings from Obeying Natural Law

61. Those who understand something of the wisdom and beneficence of his laws, and perceive the evidences of God's love and the blessings that result from obedience, will come to regard their duties and obligations from an altogether different point of view. Instead of looking upon the observance of the laws of health as a matter of sacrifice and self-denial, they will regard it, as it really is, an inestimable blessing.—Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 120. HL 22.1

62. All our enjoyment or suffering may be traced to obedience or transgression of natural law.—Testimonies for the Church 3:161. HL 22.2

Co-operation

63. God, the Creator of our bodies, has arranged every fiber and nerve and sinew and muscle, and has pledged himself to keep the machinery in order if the human agent will co-operate with him and refuse to work contrary to the laws which govern the human system.—Unpublished Testimonies, August 30, 1896. HL 22.3

64. A careful conformity to the laws which God has implanted in our being will insure health, and there will not be a breaking down of the constitution.—The Health Reformer, August 1, 1866. HL 22.4

65. God has pledged himself to keep this machinery in healthful action if the human agent will obey his laws, and co-operate with him.—Unpublished Testimonies, January 11, 1897. HL 22.5

66. Every “Thou shall not,” whether in physical or moral law, contains or implies a promise. If it is obeyed, blessings will attend our steps.—Testimonies for the Church 5:444. HL 23.1

67. He requires us to obey natural law, to preserve physical health.—Testimonies for the Church 3:63. HL 23.2

68. If Christians will keep the body in subjection, and bring all their appetites and passions under the control of enlightened conscience, feeling it a duty that they owe to God and to their neighbors to obey the laws which govern health and life, they will have the blessing of physical and mental vigor. They will have moral power to engage in the warfare against Satan; and in the name of him who conquered appetite in their behalf, they may be more than conquerors on their own account.—Testimonies for the Church 4:36. HL 23.3

Adherence to Principle

69. If laborers who are now in the field had intelligently used their physical and mental powers according to the laws of hygiene, they would not only have been able to become proficient in common branches of education, but would have been versed in different languages, and thus would have been qualified to become missionaries in foreign countries.—The Youth's Instructor, May 31, 1894. HL 23.4

70. The souls and bodies of people have been fast becoming a corrupted mass of disease. This would not have been the case if those who claimed to believe the truth had lived out its sacred principles in their lives.—Unpublished Testimonies, January 11, 1897. HL 23.5

71. If man had obeyed the laws of Jehovah in his natural laws, the image of God would have been revealed in him.—Ibid. HL 23.6