Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 1:2.
(SD 171.1)
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The right use of one’s self is the most valuable lesson that can be learned. We are not to do brain work, and stop there, or make physical exertion, and stop there; we are to make the best use of the various parts that compose the human machinery,—brain, bone, muscle, head, and heart.
(SD 171.2)
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The right use of one’s self includes the whole circle of obligations to one’s self, to the world, and to God. Then use the physical powers proportionately with the mental powers. Every action derives its quality from the motive which prompts it, and if the motives are not high, and pure, and unselfish, the mind and character will never become well balanced....
(SD 171.3)
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You are the Lord’s; for He created you. You are His by redemption; for He gave His life for you.... Preserve every portion of the living machinery, that you may use it for God. Preserve it for Him. Your health depends upon the right use of your physical organism. Do not misuse any portion of your God-given powers, physical, mental, or moral. All your habits are to be brought under the control of a mind that is itself under the control of God.
(SD 171.4)
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If young men and women would grow up to the full stature of Christ Jesus, they must treat themselves intelligently.... Unhealthful habits of every order—late hours at night, late hours in bed in the morning, rapid eating—are to be overcome. Masticate your food thoroughly. Let there be no hurried eating. Have your room well ventilated day and night, and perform useful physical labor.... By properly using our powers to their fullest extent in the most useful employment, by keeping every organ in health, by so preserving every organ that mind, sinew, and muscle shall work harmoniously, we may do the most precious service for God.
(SD 171.5)
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For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light. Ephesians 5:8.
(SD 200.1)
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“Walk in the light.” To walk in the light means to resolve, to exercise thought, to exert will-power, in an earnest endeavor to represent Christ in sweetness of character. It means to put away all gloom. You are not to rest satisfied simply in saying, “I am a child of God.” Are you beholding Jesus, and, by beholding, becoming changed into His likeness? To walk in the light means advancement and progress in spiritual attainments. Paul declared, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but ... forgetting those things which are behind,” constantly beholding the Pattern, I reach “forth unto those things which are before.” To walk in the light means to “walk uprightly,” to walk “in the way of the Lord,” to “walk by faith,” to “walk in the Spirit,” to “walk in the truth,” to “walk in love,” to “walk in the newness of life.” It is “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
(SD 200.2)
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What a terrible thing it is to darken the pathway of others by bringing shadow and gloom upon ourselves! Let each one take heed to himself. Charge not upon others your defections of character.... Talk light; walk in the light. “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”... Gather to your souls the courage that can come only from the Light of the world.25
(SD 200.3)
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When the light of heaven shines upon the human agent, his countenance will express the joy of the Lord within. It is the absence of Christ from the soul that makes people sad and of a doubtful mind. It is the want of Christ that makes the countenance sad, and the life is a pilgrimage of sighs. Rejoicing is the very keynote of the Word of God for all who receive Him. Why? Because they have the Light of life. Light brings gladness and joy, and that joy is expressed in the life and the character.26
(SD 200.4)
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VC