Flesh Meats (Proteins Continued)
315
duty to understand and respect the principles of health reform. On the
subject of temperance we should be in advance of all other people; and
yet there are among us well-instructed members of the church, and
even ministers of the gospel, who have little respect for the light that
God has given upon this subject. They eat as they please, and work as
they please....
We do not mark out any precise line to be followed in diet; but
we do say that in countries where there are fruits, grains, and nuts in
abundance, flesh food is not the right food for God’s people. I have
been instructed that flesh food has a tendency to animalize the nature,
to rob men and women of that love and sympathy which they should
feel for every one, and to give the lower passions control over the
higher powers of the being. If meat eating were ever healthful, it is not
safe now. Cancers, tumors, and pulmonary diseases are largely caused
by meat eating.
We are not to make the use of flesh food a test of fellowship, but
we should consider the influence that professed believers who use flesh
foods have over others. As God’s messengers, shall we not say to the
people, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do
all to the glory of God’?
1 Corinthians 10:31
. Shall we not bear a
decided testimony against the indulgence of perverted appetite? Will
any who are ministers of the gospel, proclaiming the most solemn
truth ever given to mortals, set an example in returning to the fleshpots
of Egypt? Will those who are supported by the tithe from God’s
storehouse permit themselves by self-indulgence to poison the life-
giving current flowing through their veins? Will they disregard the
light and warnings that God has given them? The health of the body is
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to be regarded as essential for growth in grace and the acquirement of
an even temper. If the stomach is not properly cared for, the formation
of an upright, moral character will be hindered. The brain and nerves
are in sympathy with the stomach. Erroneous eating and drinking
result in erroneous thinking and acting.
All are now being tested and proved. We have been baptized into
Christ, and if we will act our part by separating from everything that
would drag us down and make us what we ought not to be, there will
be given us strength to grow up into Christ, who is our living head,
and we shall see the salvation of God.—
Testimonies for the Church
9:156-160, 1909