Our health is of great importance, as it is mutually related to our intellect and morals. There is a wonderful passage by Mrs. E. G. White which states that health reform is for our good and is to help us mentally, spiritually, and physically:
"Let it ever be kept before the mind that the great object of hygienic reform is to secure the highest possible development of mind and soul and body. All the laws of nature—which are the laws of God—are designed for our good. Obedience to them will promote our happiness in this life, and will aid us in a preparation for , the life to come."—Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, P. 120.
Before me are several large medical books on various important topics: Textbook on Medicine, Treatment in Medical Practice, Diseases of the Nervous System, Applied Physiology, Psychiatry, and Diseases of the Blood.
These books were all written by specialists with many years' experience and with the highest qualifications. Almost all these books have been written within the past four years, but they are now out of date because of progress in medical science and changing opinions. A later edition has been published of every one of them. This serves to show how the wisdom of man rapidly changes. In contrast to this, our health message as given in Ministry of Healing, published in 1905, has never needed to be revised, and it is still up to date.
Our health message has stood all tests, has been stable, and is still recognized as being well balanced, because it comes direct from God's fountain of wisdom and is not the invention of man. "I am the Lord, I change not." God gave us the health reform message, and He is not going to change. Let us realize its lasting importance and live up to the light we have.
Since health reform is for "the highest possible development of mind and soul and body," it is necessary for us to recognize that man is a composite of all three, and that healthful living will improve all three. I do not plan to deal with the bodily or physical aspects of health reform in this article, except to remind you of the following passage from Counsels on Health:
"Wrong habits have been indulged, and physical and moral laws have been disregarded, until the general standard of virtue and piety is exceedingly low. Habits which lower the standard of physical health, enfeeble mental and moral strength. The indulgence of unnatural appetites and passions has a controlling influence upon the nerves of the brain. The animal organs are strengthened, while the moral are depressed."—Page 36.
We should be wise and profit from the instruction given us on such matters as relate to simplicity in diet and to the use of tobacco, alcohol, tea, coffee, and flesh foods. Although diet is important and merits deep consideration, I would like to deal here with another wider aspect of healthful living, namely, with certain mental processes which concern our mental and spiritual natures.
Imagination.—Many of us are not controlling our imagination as far as we should for our own benefit. We are letting our imagination control us, and this is wrong. Sanctified will should control our imagination rather than imagination controlling our thoughts and actions. In Medical Ministry, Mrs. White tells of an experience in which the imagination was controlling the mind:
"Once I was called to see a young woman with whom I was well acquainted. She was sick, and was running down fast. Her mother wished me to pray for her. The mother stood there weeping and saying, 'Poor child; she cannot live long.' I felt her pulse. I prayed with her, and then addressed her, 'My sister, if you get up and dress and go to your usual work in the office, all this invalidism will pass away.'
"'Do you think this would pass away?' she said.
"'Certainly,' I said. 'You have nearly smothered the life forces by invalidism.' I turned to the mother and told her that her daughter would have died of a diseased imagination, if they had not been convinced of their error. She had been educating herself to invalidism. Now this is a very poor school. But I said to her, 'Change this order ; arise and dress.' She was obedient, and is alive today."—Page 109. (See also page 106.)
Emotions.—We all have emotions, and some are powerful enough to crush our spiritual life, if allowed to control us. But emotions should be a subservient part of our nature and should be used for our edification.
"It is not wise to look to ourselves, and study our emotions. If we do this, the enemy will present difficulties and temptations that weaken faith and destroy courage. Closely to study our emotions and give way to our feelings is to entertain doubt, and entangle ourselves in perplexity. We are to look away from self to Jesus."--Ministry of Healing, p. 249. (See also Testimonies to Ministers, page 518.)
Our feelings, our emotions, our imagination, and our thoughts are likely to change with fleeting fancies when not controlled and stabilized. We should strive to master them. "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering." Heb. 10:23.
Job asserted, "I know that my Redeemer liveth," and if anyone had reason for giving way to his feelings, it was Job. I think of the temptation of Job, and that never once did he so much as complain. This is a powerful testimony. He was true right through to the end; his faith never wavered, and God blessed him.
We know that God has protected us during the ages. We know that God has given us this message. We know that God has preserved us. We know each morning of our lives that God gives us strength. We know of thousands of ways in which God is blessing us each moment. But when we give way to emotions, feelings, and imagination, we are denying faith in God. The Lord wants us to stand firm, to witness that we have faith and courage in Him, and not despair.
"God bath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Tim. I :7. Here we have a fitting verse that indicates the close relationship of the physical, spiritual, and intellectual aspects of man. This verse states that fear does not come from God, but that He gives us power, love, and a sound mind.
We need to control our thoughts. Every few minutes, when we are alone or in a group, we should pause and analyze our thoughts. If our thoughts are not helpful to us or to someone else, then they should be dispelled from our minds. Thoughts can rob us of much energy. Just why is that? If a person is highly excited for fifteen minutes he has expended as much energy as he would use in several hours' work. Do you get highly excited? Guard against it.
"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Cor. 10:5. This verse tells us to bring imagination and thought to the obedience of Christ, under the control of God, so that each moment we shall be thinking something that will edify us or be a means of helping others.
I treasure that verse in Psalms 16:8: "I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." Here is a source of tremendous power. If we have the Lord always set before us we cannot be moved. That is what we want.
Hope.—"Hope maketh not ashamed ; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Rom. 5:5.
The relation that exists between the mind and the body is very intimate. When one is affected, the other sympathizes. The condition of the mind affects the health to a far greater degree than many realize. Many of the diseases from which men suffer are the result of mental depression. Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust—all tend to break down the life forces and to invite decay and death.
Desires.—"Courage, hope, faith, sympathy, love, promote health and prolong life. A contented mind, a cheerful spirit, is health to the body and strength to the soul. 'A merry [rejoicing] heart doeth good like a medicine.' "—Ibid., p. 241. Paul counsels us in i Corinthians 12:31 to "covet earnestly the best gifts." This is excellent advice. There are certainly many things to be desired either of themselves or as steppingstones in the Christian pathway. Let us set our goal high and strive earnestly toward it. There is no reason why we should be content with a low degree of health or intellect, when a vastly greater store is available to us.
Will.---"The tempted one needs to understand the true force of the will. This is the governing power in the nature of man,—the power of decision, of choice. Everything depends on the right action of the will. Desires for goodness and purity are right, so far as they go ; but if we stop here, they avail nothing. Many will go down to ruin while hoping and desiring to overcome their evil propensities. They do not yield the will to God. They do not choose to serve Him."—Ibid., p. 176. (See also page 246.)
What are the true remedies in healing ? Again we turn to the wisdom of that book Ministry of Healing and find the concise answer : "Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power,—these are the true remedies,"—Page 127. What a wonderful climax—trust in divine power! "Behold, God is my salvation ; I will trust, and not be afraid." Isa. 12:2.
