Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 1:2.
(TDG 123.1)
Thousands, yes, millions, who walk the earth, are suffering from their own wrong course of action. Should not those for whom Christ has given His life place a value upon their own happiness, peace, and healthfulness by obeying nature’s laws? We are the Lord’s property by creation and by redemption, and He requires that we study how to care for our bodies, observing carefully the laws of life, health, and purity.
(TDG 123.2)
It is our duty to preserve and honor our bodies, in order that we shall not, by neglect, by selfish indulgence, by perverted appetite and passions, make ourselves bodies of corruption and impurity, loathsome in the sight of God, dying while life remains.
(TDG 123.3)
How strongly and brightly shines the mercy and lovingkindness of God in His dealings toward His heritage.... All heaven has the deepest interest in our welfare, that Satan shall not control us and conform us to his character. “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall” (Malachi 4:1, 2)....
(TDG 123.4)
By showing contempt for the laws of nature, men and women lay the foundation for misery and suffering. Through the weakness of their moral powers they are abject slaves to passion. Some are digging their graves with their own teeth; others defile soul and body and weaken their brain power by yielding to vile habits of moral pollution. By this they close the gates of the city of God against themselves, for the penalty of violated laws must be realized. The punishment must come....
(TDG 123.5)
There are lessons to be learned in this line which, if observed, will bring health to body and mind. If the habits of eating and drinking are kept intelligently under the control of the human agent, and he eats and drinks to the glory of God, his life will be lengthened. Eat to live; do not live to eat.—Manuscript 53, April 24, 1896, “A Knowledge of Physiology Necessary in Education.”
(TDG 123.6)