Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

might have done had they not debased their God-given powers. Then
will they realize what height of intellectual greatness they might have
attained had they given to God all the physical and mental strength He
had entrusted to them. In their agony of remorse they will long to have
their lives to live over again.
Every true Christian will have control of his appetite and passions.
Unless he is free from the bondage and slavery of appetite he cannot be
a true, obedient servant of Christ. It is the indulgence of appetite and
passion which makes the truth of none effect 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 appetite and passion.
The great end for which Christ endured that long fast in the
wilderness was to teach us the necessity of self-denial and temperance.
This work should commence at our tables and should be strictly carried
out in all the concerns of life. The Redeemer of the world came from
heaven to help man in his weakness, that, in the power which Jesus
came to bring him, he might become strong to overcome appetite and
passion, and might be victor on every point.
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