Section 3—Development of the Mind
Chapter 13—Food for the Mind
Wise Improvement Versus Abuse—God bestows upon us talents for wise improvement, not for abuse. Education is but a preparation of the physical, intellectual, and moral powers for the best performance of all the duties of life. Improper reading gives an education that is false. The power of endurance and the strength and activity of the brain may be lessened or increased according to the manner in which they are employed.—Testimonies for the Church 4:498 (1880).
Healthful Food for the Mind—Pure healthful reading will be to the mind what healthful food is to the body. You will thus become stronger to resist temptation, to form right habits, and to act upon right principles.—The Review and Herald, December 26, 1882. (Sons and Daughters of God, 178.)
Guard the Avenues of the Soul—We have a work to do to resist temptation. Those who would not fall a prey to Satan’s devices must guard well the avenues of the soul; they must avoid reading, seeing, or hearing that which will suggest impure thoughts.
The mind should not be left to wander at random upon every subject that the adversary of souls may suggest. “Girding up the loins of your mind,” says the apostle Peter, “be sober, … not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in … your ignorance: but like as He which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living” (1 Peter 1:13-15, RV).
Says Paul, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8). This will require earnest prayer and unceasing watchfulness. We must be aided by the abiding influence of the Holy Spirit, which will attract the mind upward, and habituate it to dwell on pure and holy things. And we must give diligent study to the Word of God. “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.” “Thy Word,” says the psalmist, “have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psalm 119:9, 11).—Patriarchs and Prophets, 460 (1890).
Character Revealed by Choice of Reading—The nature of one’s religious experience is revealed by the character of the books one chooses to read in one’s leisure moments. In order to have a healthy tone of mind and sound religious principles, the youth must live in communion with God through His Word. Pointing out the way of salvation through Christ, the Bible is our guide to a higher, better life. It contains the most interesting and the most instructive history and biography that were ever written. Those whose imagination has not become perverted by the reading of fiction will find the Bible the most interesting of books.—The Youth’s Instructor, October 9, 1902. (Messages to Young People, 273, 274.)
Some Books Confuse the Mind—Many of the books piled up in the great libraries of earth confuse the mind more than they aid the understanding. Yet men spend large sums of money in the purchase of such books, and years in their study, when they have within their reach a Book containing the words of Him who is the Alpha and Omega of wisdom. The time spent in a study of these books might better be spent in gaining a knowledge of Him whom to know aright is life eternal. Those only who gain this knowledge will at last hear the words, “Ye are complete in Him” (Colossians 2:10).—(Pamphlet) Words of Counsel, 1903. (Counsels on Health, 369.)
https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/77.554#554
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for the wisdom that comes from You and from the perfect example of living in Jesus. Thank You that we can stand in our God-given personality and strength and be no other person’s shadow. Please bless us with the power of discernment between good and evil and the power to choose well that we may be an influence to others for the good. Thank You for Your Word and biblical advice, which encourages us in the total, true and right development of character and mind culture, resulting in whole-body vibrant health. Please bless us truly to contemplate the life of Jesus and to allow Your Word to develop within us that true religion, which ennobles the mind, refines the taste, sanctifies the judgment, and makes us partakers of the vibrant health, purity, and the holiness of Heaven. Please bless us so that our minds remain under the direct influence of Your Holy Spirit that we would know Your voice and so that Satan cannot mold us as he choses. Please bless us to study Your Word with earnest supplication for the Spirit’s guidance and a full surrender of the heart to be sanctified through the truth, that it will accomplish in us all that Christ has promised, that we will be strong and healthy mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and to allow ourselves to be cultivated almost to the excellence of angels. Because we ask all these in the Awesome name of Almighty Jesus the Christ, our Savior, we say Thank You and Amen.
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DID YOU KNOW THIS…? 2 Peter 1:5-8 KJV — And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity; For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [The WORD OF GOD—It’s the only flesh tthat is safe to eat (meditate on) to live forever!]
Do you feel sorrowful, disconnected—without a place to feel at home or useful? I pray this might show you the way forward. Watch…
https://www.youtube.com/live/2QB6fcwVuws?si=fsEvZU-rkI-BngfD
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FREE HEALTH TALK* open to the public Thursdays at 5pm at Country Life Natural Foods Store and Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant, 1217 Eberhart Avenue, Columbus, GA. The topic for Thursday, May 21, “Foods That Fight Back: Using Everyday Meals & Herbs to Combat Diabetes, High Blood Pressure & Fatigue,” with Suraj Sukumaran.
*Exception: $10 for cooking classes
WHGR 91.5 FM went LIVE noon on Thanksgiving Day 2025, for Hurtsboro (my childhood home town) and surrounding areas, including Tuskegee, Alabama.
If you want to support Christian radio programming for these final days, please visit
https://www.ucheepines.org/radio
Thank you!!!
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I coordinate wonderful health and worship events and conferences online and onsite as a gospel medical missionary at Uchee Pines, a total plant-based health retreat, where doctors and practitioners specialize in lifestyle medicine. For event details, visit https://www.ucheepines.org/events
Therefore, if at any time you fail to receive this post as a text, please visit
https://baiom.org/author/audreystovall/
where devotionals are first posted daily (almost without fail). From there devotionals are publicly shared to my page on FB, LinkedIn, and Signal (in My Story), and to a response-restricted group on WhatsApp (once again when I am able to find the time to successfully rebuild it).
NOTE: These began as daily texts to encourage my academy roommate and dear friend of nearly 50 years, until she suddenly passed March 2023. Now I continue to compile and send them to anyone who will receive them and to her family in honor of their mom. Lately, I have begun featuring consecutive chapter portions of a select Bible-based book.
If you agree to continue receiving them, then this is my personal gift to you; and in this way, I not only honor God but the memory of a very dear friend whom I desperately miss.
My personal prayer is that God will bless me to find ways to multiply this gift, so that we all may be encouraged to be found faithful in the sight of a Holy God, whenever Christ returns or our eyes are shut in the sleep of death.
It is a prayerful process that leads me to share from my personal study.
So please feel free to forward to your loved ones or to anyone, as God leads you. I’m calling them Barb’s Devotionals.