Take 10~ Ten Dynamic Golden Rules That Help You Live Longer, Feel Better, and Look Good...series...Introduction part 2

Take 10~ Ten Dynamic Golden Rules That Help You

 Live Longer, Feel Better, and Look Good

 

By Leo R. Van Dolson, Ph.D, M.P.H.

 

 

Introduction part 2

 

Feeling Good and Looking Good

 

The World Health Organization defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Obviously, this definition is incomplete as it leave out one significant dimension of life and health- the spiritual. These dimensions of life are so inter-related that what affects one affects all the others. The entire mind, body, and soul is involved when disease strikes. That means that health, too, involves all four dimensions of life. We cannot be complete and whole unless we are well physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. As you make these applications, you will discover that you not only feel better but look better, too.

 

Wilbur Wright arrived in France in 1908 intent on demonstrating the superiority of his flying machine over the experimental French models. Because the French were committed to defending their claim of priority in flight, there was quite a bit of hostility toward Wilbur. When a catapult shot him 30 feet into the air to begin his flight the large crowd of spectators at Le Mans gasped with surprise. They were used to seeing long and often unsuccessful takeoffs. When his flight machine dipped its wing, banking for a turn, the crowd panicked. they'd never seen an aircraft turning life that and thought Wilbur was going to crash. When he continued to gracefully circle the field, their fright turned into wild cheering. After he landed, they mobbed him, everyone trying to shake his hand at once. The Wright brothers clearly had come up with a superior airplane. Something better speaks for itself. BETTER is not something BITTER. Often people think that a good health habit involves that which doesn't taste good or doesn't feel good. But actually what's good for you will make you look good, feel good, and enjoy life more during the additional years you will gain.

 

The Laws of Life and Health

Because the Creator established the golden rules of life and health we are studying, our main source for understanding these laws is the Bible. At the end of each chapter we will append a Bible Study Guide that develops these laws and illustrates their application in the physical, mental, social, and spiritual dimensions of life.

 

Nearly a century before a  healthful lifestyle became a significant issue in the United States, a remarkable woman named Ellen White wrote and lectured extensively about health. She was so far ahead of her time that many current scholars in the field of nutrition and health marvel at the insights this relatively uneducated writer displayed. Even today, when there is so much controversy over particular areas of emphasis in health research. Ellen White's voluminous writing on these topics are recognized as being remarkably accurate. Her writing challenge the reader to become acquainted with the Biblical laws of health and to apply these principles on a daily basis. What did Ellen White consider constituted a law of life and health? A careful study of what she has written reveals that a natural law applies across the board--physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. Thus the law of activity (exercise) can readily be seen to apply to physical development, mental alertness, the development of social graces, and spiritual growth. Without exercising these powers regularly we lose some of our ability to function completely. Either we use these powers or we lose them.

 

We should not confuse the laws of life and health with their limited applications. For example, we need to drink an adequate amount of water daily and use it externally to keep clean and fresh. Nevertheless, proper use of water is an application of the laws of health rather than a natural law in and of itself. several of the laws can be seen to include applications of the use of water as a benefit to health.

 

We have identified ten basic laws of life and health in the Bible and in the writing of Ellen White. These dynamic golden rules that we will be studying include the following:

1. Cause and Effect
2. Rest and Restoration
3. Activity and Growth
4. Temperance and Self-control
5. Order and Cleanliness
6. Regularity and Balance
7. Supply and Distribution
8. Positive Living
9. A Healthy Respect for God's Property
10. Nothing Lives to Itself(Law of Life for the Universe)  

When the capitalized first letters are put together they form an acronym- the Creator's Plan for Health and Happiness.

 

Bible Study Guide

 

In order to get an overall view of the ten great principles of life and health that we will study in this book, we turn to the Scriptures to give us a clue as to what they are. In the first part of Romans Paul outlives the plan of salvation. In Romans 12:1-2 he begins to put the gospel into working clothes. A modern paraphrase helps us understand how interested God is in helping us get the most out of life. "Now that you understand how God's plan works...this is the next step I urge: Accept it. Dedicate yourselves to becoming living, breathing testimonials to His new holy way of life. This demonstration of making God number one in your life will not only please Him, it will make good sense to you too. Because it means that instead of letting the worlds around you shape your thinking, you are opening up your mind and becoming receptive to all the pure and beautiful and fulfilling things God wants you to experience." _ Richard A. Swaney, Out of Darkness, Light!, p. 49.

(The KJV of the Bible is used for these verses)



1. Cause and Effect:

Galatians 6:7, "Whatsoever a man____________________, that shall he also ____________________." 

Every time a seed is sown a harvest results, based on the kind of seed planted. This applies across the board, physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. This, and the other great principles of life and health, work for us or against us, depending on how we choose to relate to them.

 

2. Rest and Restoration:

Mark 6:31, "Come ye yourselves apart......, and ____________________ awhile."

Psalm 23:3 "He _________________________ my soul."

Here is a find prescription for the prevention and healing of physical, mental, social, and spiritual ills.

3. Activity and Growth:

2 John 8 "Look to yourselves, that we _____________ not those things which we have wrought, but that we ____________________ a full reward."

Matthew 25:29, " For unto every one that ______________ shall be given, and he shall have __________________ but from him that ________________________________ shall be taken away even that which he hath."

This Bible verse is found in the parable of the talents. Because the servant failed to use what he had been given it was taken away from him. These verses outline the great principle of life that we lose what we do not use. Activity is a law of life. Strength is acquired by effort. Development cannot take place without proper use of our physical, mental, social, or spiritual faculties.

 

4. Temperance and Self- control:

 

1 Corinthians 9:25,27, "Every man that striveth for the mastery is _______________________ in all things....I keep under my body and bring it into _____________________________________."

Much of illness is brought on by intemperate use of those things that even might be good in themselves.

 

5. Order and Cleanliness:

1 Corinthians 14:40. "Let all things be done decently and in _____________."

Isaiah 52:11. "Be ye ____________________."

Pollution of any kind is destructive, but cleanliness and order contribute to many phases of total health.

6. Regularity and Balance:

Genesis 8:22. "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and ________________, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and _______________ and night shall not _____________________."

Job 37:16. "Dost thou know the ________________________ of the clouds?"

Built-in mechanisms keep our internal and external environment in as steady a state as possible.

 

7. Supply and Distribution:

Philippians 4:19. "My God shall ______________ all your need."

Without adequate nourishment and proper distribution of the substances essential to life there could be no life. Our challenge is to husband our resources, using what has been provided equitably.

 

8. Positive Living:

Proverbs 17:22. "A merry heart doeth good like a ________________________; but a broken spirit ______________________ the bones."

Psalm 16:11. "Thou wilt shew me the path of _____________; in thy presence is fullness of _____________; at they right hand there are _________________________forevermore."

In every aspect of life, positive attitudes and corresponding actions help prevent and even heal disease.

 

9. Respect for God's Property:

Matthew 22:39. "Thou shalt love they neighbor as ________________________."

A sense of self-worth is basic to health. It motivates us to care for our bodies, gives us a sense of security, thus contributing to mental health, and enables us to love others.

 

10. Nothing Lives To Itself(Law of Live for the Universe):

Luke 6:38. "Give and it shall be ______________ unto you; Good _______________, pressed down, and shaken together, and ________________over."

The more we give, the better we live. To the verse "Cast they bread upon the waters" (Eccl. 11:1) once voice of experience added "it will come back to you buttered!"