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 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. He who is thus overcome has
placed himself upon Satan's ground, where he 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
their fellow men. 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.
Many mothers who deplore the intemperance that exists everywhere, do not look deep enough
to see the cause. Too often it may be traced to the home table. Many a mother, even among those
who profess to be Christians, is daily setting before her household, rich and highly seasoned
food, which tempts the appetite and encourages overeating. In some
families, flesh-meats constitute the principal article of diet, and in consequence, the blood is
filled with cancerous and scrofulous humors. Then when suffering and disease follow,
Providence is charged with that which is the result of a wrong course. I repeat: 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 his 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. In the glutton, the tobacco devotee, the winebibber, and the inebriate, we see the evil
results of erroneous education and of self-indulgence.
When we hear the sad lamentation of Christian men and women over the terrible evils of
intemperance, the questions at once arise: Who have educated the youth? who have fostered in
them these unruly appetites? who have neglected the solemn responsibility of forming their
characters for usefulness in this life, and for the society of heavenly angels in the next?
When parents and children meet at the final reckoning, what a scene will be presented!
Thousands of children who have been slaves to appetite and debasing vice, whose lives are moral
wrecks, will stand face to face with the parents who made them what they are. Who but the
parents must bear this fearful responsibility? Did the Lord make these youth corrupt?--Oh, no!
Who, then, has done this fearful work? Were not the sins of the parents transmitted to the
children in perverted appetites and passions? and was not the work
completed by those who neglected to train them according to the pattern which God has given?
Just as surely as they exist, all these parents will pass in review before God.
Satan is ready to do his work; he will not neglect to present allurements which the children
have no will or moral power to resist. I saw that, through his temptations, he is instituting
ever-changing fashions, and attractive parties and amusements, that mothers may be led to devote
their time to frivolous matters, instead of to the education and training of their children. Our
youth need mothers who will teach them from the cradle, to control passion, to deny appetite, and
to overcome selfishness. They need line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a
little.
The Hebrews were taught how to train their children so that they might avoid the idolatry and
wickedness of the heathen nations: "Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and
in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your
eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."
Woman should fill the position which God originally designed for her, as her husband's equal.
The world needs mothers who are mothers not merely in name, but in every sense of the word.
We may safely say that the distinctive duties of woman are more sacred, more holy, than those of
man. Let woman realize the sacredness of her work, and in the strength and fear of God take up
her life mission. Let her educate her children for usefulness in this world, and for a home in the
better world.
The position of a woman in her family is more sacred than that of the king upon his throne.
Her great work is to make her life an example such as she would wish her children to copy. And
precept as well as example, she is to store their minds with useful knowledge, and lead them to
self-sacrificing
labor for the good of others. The great stimulus to the toiling, burdened mother should be that
every child who is trained aright, and who has the inward adorning, the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, will shine in the courts of the Lord.
I entreat Christian mothers to realize their responsibility, and to live, not to please themselves,
but to glorify God. Christ pleased not Himself, but took upon Him the form of a servant. He left
the royal courts, and clothed His divinity with humanity, that by His own example He might
teach us how we may be exalted to the position of sons and daughters in the royal family,
children of the heavenly King. But what are the conditions upon which we may obtain this great
blessing?--"Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and
daughters."
Christ humbled Himself from the position of one equal with God to that of a servant. His
home was in Nazareth, a place proverbial for its wickedness. His parents were among the lowly
poor. His trade was that of a carpenter, and He labored with His hands to do His part in
sustaining the family. For thirty years He was subject to His parents. The life of Christ points out
our duty to be diligent in labor, and to provide for those intrusted to our care.
In His lessons of instruction to His disciples, Jesus taught them that His kingdom is not a
worldly kingdom, where all are striving for the highest position; but He gave them lessons in
humility and self-sacrifice for the good of others. His humility did not consist in a low estimate
of His own character and qualifications, but in adapting Himself to fallen humanity, in order to
raise them up with Him to a higher life. Yet how few see anything attractive in the humility of
Christ! Worldlings are constantly striving to exalt themselves one above another; but Jesus, the
Son of God, humbled Himself in order to uplift man. The true disciple of Christ will follow His
example. Would that the mothers of this generation might feel the sacredness of their mission,
not trying to vie with their wealthy neighbors in appearance, but seeking to honor God by the
faithful performance of duty. If right principles in regard to temperance were implanted in the
youth who are to form and mold society, there would be little necessity for temperance crusades.
Firmness of character, moral control, would prevail, and in the strength of Jesus the temptations
of these last days would be resisted.
It is a most difficult matter to unlearn the habits which have been indulged through life. The
demon of intemperance is of giant strength, and is not easily conquered. But if parents begin the
crusade against it at their own firesides, in their own families, in the principles they teach their
children from very infancy, then they may hope for success. It will pay you, mothers, to use the
precious hours which are given you by God in forming the characters of your children, and in
teaching them to adhere strictly to the principles of temperance in eating and drinking.
A sacred trust is committed to parents, to guard the physical and moral constitutions of their
children, so that the nervous system may be well balanced, and the soul not endangered. Fathers
and mothers should understand the laws of life, that they may not, through ignorance, allow
wrong tendencies to develop in their children. The diet affects both physical and moral health.
How carefully, then, should mothers study to supply the table with most simple, healthful food,
in order that the digestive organs may not be weakened, the nerves unbalanced, or the instruction
which they give their children counteracted.
Satan sees that he cannot have so great power over minds when the appetite is kept under
control as when it is indulged, and he is constantly working to lead men to indulgence. Under the
influence of unhealthful food, the conscience becomes stupefied, the mind is darkened, and its
susceptibility to
impressions is impaired. But the guilt of the transgressor is not lessened because the conscience
has been violated till it has become insensible.
Since a healthy state of mind depends upon the normal condition of the vital forces, what care
should be exercised that neither stimulants nor narcotics be used! Yet we see that a large number
of those who profess to be Christians are using tobacco. They deplore the evils of intemperance;
yet while speaking against the use of liquors, these very men will eject the juice of tobacco.
There must be a change of sentiment with reference to tobacco-using before the root of the evil
will be reached. We press the subject still closer. Tea and coffee are fostering the appetite for
stronger stimulants. And then we come still closer home, to the preparation of food, and ask, Is
temperance practiced in all things? are the reforms which are essential to health and happiness
carried out here?
Every true Christian will have control of his appetites and passions. Unless he is free from the
bondage of appetite, he cannot be a true, obedient servant of Christ. The indulgence of appetite
and passion blunts the effect of truth upon the heart. It is impossible for the spirit and power of
the truth to sanctify a man, soul, body, and spirit, when he is controlled by sensual
desires.--"Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene," pp. 75-80, 1890.