Our Bodies Are Temples of God
Because our bodies are important, our Father in Heaven wants us to take
good care of them. He knows that we can be happier, better people if we
are healthy. The Spirit of our Heavenly Father Holy Ghost can be with us if our
bodies and minds are clean. Our Father knows that we face temptations to treat our
bodies unwisely or to take harmful things into them. For this reason he
has told us which things are good for our health and which things are
bad. Much of the information God has given us concerning good health is
found in Doctrine and Covenants 89. This revelation is called the Word
of Wisdom.
We must obey the Word of Wisdom to be worthy to enter the temple. If we
do not obey the Word of Wisdom, the Lord's Spirit may
not dwell with us withdraws
from us.
If we defile the "temple of God" which is our body, we hurt
ourselves physically and spiritually.
We Are Commanded Not to Take Certain
Things into Our Bodies
The Lord commands us not to use wine and strong drinks, meaning
drinks containing alcohol. The First Presidency has taught that strong
drink often brings cruelty, poverty, disease, and plague into the home.
It often is a cause of dishonesty, loss of chastity, and loss of good
judgment. It is a curse to all who drink it (see "Message of the
First Presidency," Improvement Era, Nov. 1942, p. 686).
Expectant mothers who drink can cause physical and mental damage to
their children. Many automobile accidents are caused each year by people
who drink alcohol.
The Lord has also told us that "tobacco is not for the body"
(D&C 89:8). It is harmful to our bodies and our spirits. We should
not smoke cigarettes or cigars or use chewing tobacco. Scientists have
shown that tobacco causes many diseases and can harm unborn children.
The Lord also counsels us against the use of "hot drinks."
Church leaders have said that this means coffee and tea, which contain
harmful drugs
We Are Taught That Certain Things Are
Good for Our Bodies
Grains are good for us. Wheat is especially good for us. Grains may be
used also to make mild drinks.
Work, Cleanliness, Rest, and Exercise Are
Important
In addition to Doctrine and Covenants 89, other scriptures tell us
how to be healthy. They tell us that we should "cease to be idle;
cease to be unclean; . . . cease to sleep longer than is
needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early,
that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated" (D&C
88:124). We are also told, "Six days shalt thou labour and do all
thy work" (Exodus 20:9). The Lord counsels us not to labor more
than we have strength for (see D&C 10:4).
A latter-day prophet has told us that people "should learn to keep our
their bodies healthy by right living, . . .
by inhaling pure
air, taking plenty of exercise, and
bathing . . . often in
fresh water" (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 241).
Promised Blessings for Living the Lord's Law of
Health
The Lord
also promises that the destroying angel shall pass us by. President Heber
J. Grant said, "If you and I desire the blessings of life, of
health, of vigor of body and mind; if we desire the destroying angel to
pass us by, as he did in the days of the children of Israel, we must
obey the Word of Wisdom; then God is bound and the blessing shall come
to us." Elder Spencer
W. Kimball said that in our time this means we will be saved from
spiritual death: "For observing the Word of Wisdom the reward is
life, not only prolonged mortal life but life eternal" (The
Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 211).
Additional Scriptures