Temperance

Notes

1. For the word "temperance" given in the Authorized Version, the Revised Versions have "self-control." See such texts as Gal. 5:23; Acts 24:25; 1 Cor. 9:25, etc. This gives the correct idea. True temperance means to exercise self-control in all things.

2. "There is real common sense in health reform. People can not all eat the same things. Some articles of food that are wholesome and palatable to one person, may be hurtful to another. Some can not use milk, while others can subsist upon it. For some dried beans and peas are wholesome, while others can not digest them. Some stomachs have become so sensitive that they can not make use of the coarser kind of graham flour. So it is impossible to make an unvarying rule by which to regulate every one's dietetic habits. Narrow ideas, an overstraining of small points, have been a great injury to the cause of hygiene."—Christian Temperance, page 57.

3. Temperance, sometimes called physical righteousness, is a fruit of the Spirit, and in its truest sense can be acquired only by the operation of the Spirit of God on the intemperate passions of the natural heart. It should be studied, and practiced, from the Christian rather than the pagan standpoint. Various forms of correct living are manifest among heathen nations and have been for centuries, but those who have practiced them are pagan still. Men of the world adopt temperate habits that their minds may be clear to drive sharp bargains and manipulate transactions to their own advantage, and operate schemes to plunder the people. Others practice proper habits of eating and drinking to develop muscle in order to win in some physical contest. Temperance from the Christian standpoint is far different from these. It is a thing of the heart, a fruit of righteousness, a purification of the soul from unclean passions through faith. Its object is the attainment of a pure and holy life, which is wrought only by the operation of the Spirit of God.