Strong Minds and Weak Stomachs

From B. 44, 1903 (P)

It is well for Brother and Sister A and Brother and Sister B to have strong minds. Each is to maintain his individuality. Each is to preserve an individuality that will not be submerged in the individuality of another. No human being is to be the shadow of another human being. But God's servants are to labor together in a unity that blends mind with mind. Do you think that this unity can exist among the workers in the sanitarium unless you all take a judicious, sanctified position?SpM 259.1

“The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” Are you willing to make sacrifices to answer this prayer? Or will you, because there is a difference of opinion regarding certain articles of food that one or the other thinks should not or should not be set on the table, or regarding the hours for meals, will you say that you can not work together? Is this Bible sanctification?...SpM 259.2

My brother, a firm will is a good thing when it is sanctified. But I know, from the light God has given me, that you and your wife need to yoke up with Christ, and to learn that in some respects your ideas and plans and methods would be improved if modified.SpM 259.3

The Sanitarium has been established that all classes may be reached with the truth. I ask you and Brother and Sister B to do all in your power to bring into the sanitariums the unity for which Christ prayed.SpM 259.4

Reveal His love. Let the truth rule in the heart, and you will be one with Christ in God.SpM 259.5

You say that you are dyspeptics. Is it not possible that your plan of eating may not be the best? I am instructed to say that you need to change in some things, else you will injure your digestive powers. I do not say what you shall or shall not eat. But if, while eating the things you choose, you have dyspepsia, I think you ought to make a decided change....SpM 259.6

If I were a dyspeptic, I should make changes in my diet until I knew for a certainty that I was eating the food that my stomach could best care for. A craving for certain things may need to be brought into subjection. Self is rebellious, and must be strictly disciplined.SpM 259.7

Be regular in your habits of eating, and be sure not to overburden the stomach by eating too many kinds of food at one time. Stop eating before you feel entirely satisfied. The stomach is the most abused organ of the whole body. It is often wearied by the effort to take care of food that should not be eaten at the same time. A disturbance is created by the kinds of food brought together. Soon there is an all-gone feeling, and many think that this is hunger. But it is not. The trouble is that the stomach has too much to do. Let it be given less to do, and it will recover its healthy tone. The simpler the food eaten, and the fewer the kinds, the easier is the stomach's work.SpM 259.8

The same rule of eating can not be made for all. I make it a rule never to eat custards; for when I eat them, they always make a disturbance in my stomach. But there are those in my family who suffer no inconvenience from eating custards, and because I can not eat them, I do not say that they ought not to eat them. We must each experiment and know for ourselves what is best for us to eat. We may have to abstain from many things that others can eat without inconvenience....SpM 260.1

Half-hearted Christians are worse than infidels; for their deceptive words and non-committal position may lead many astray. The infidel shows his colors. The luke-warm Christian deceives both parties. He is neither a good worldling nor a good Christian. Satan uses him to do a work that no one else can do.SpM 260.2