Prophetic Statements
Joseph Smith
By a proper observance of the Word of Wisdom, man may hope to regain what he has lost by transgression and live to the age of a tree, that as the sun’s rays in springtime gladden all nature and awaken life and hope, the Word of Wisdom given of God may remove the thorns and briers from our pathway and strew the same with joy and peace.” [1]
The object with me is to obey and teach others to obey God in just what He tells us to do. It mattereth not whether the principle is unpopular, I will always maintain a true principle, even if I stand alone in it. [2]
Brigham Young
Take care of yourselves, and live as long as you can, and do all the good you can. [3]
It is a piece of good counsel which the Lord desires his people to observe, that they may live on the earth until the measure of their creation is full. This is the object the Lord had in view in giving that Word of Wisdom. To those who observe it He will give great wisdom and understanding, increasing their health, giving strength and endurance to the faculties of their bodies and minds until they shall be full of years upon the earth. [4]
Do you know that it is your privilege so to live that your minds may all the time be perfectly within your control? Study to preserve your bodies in life and health, and you will be able to control your minds. [5]
Wilford Woodruff
We have been taught the Word of Wisdom. It was given to us many years ago, and the Lord said it was applicable to the weakest of Saint. Very few of us have kept the Word of Wisdom; but I have no doubt that if the counsel of president Young were carried out it would save the people of this Territory a million dollars annually. I feel that we ought to put these things into practice. We ought to unite together in all matters required of us in order to carry out the purposes of the Lord our God. The people are able to do it if they feel disposed. Why Bishop Hardy told me here this morning that he had laid aside his tobacco; he has loved it almost ever since he was born, and if he can leave it off every man in Israel ought to be able to do it. [6]
Heber J. Grant
If we as a people never used a particle of tea, coffee, tobacco, or liquor, we would become one of the wealthy people in the world. Why? Because we would have increased vigor of mind; we would grow spiritually; we would have a more direct line of communication with God, our Heavenly Father! [7]
Health is one of the most precious gifts of God to man . . . sickness and disease for the most part come upon us by our disregard for the commandments of God . . . Health of body and of mind, and hidden treasures of knowledge from God are all predicated upon keeping this simple law of the Word of Wisdom. [8]
Joseph Fielding Smith
We sometimes wonder why we have affliction. We wonder why we do not have the best of health [9]. From this which I have read [10], we may very properly infer that affliction sometimes comes upon us because we ourselves are not faithful in the performance of duty in keeping the commandments of the Lord.
What a pity it is that people will pay little heed to sacred counsels, and in their madness and love of the things of the world take the hard road and have to receive punishment when there is a means of escape. When these calamities come, what right have the people of Zion to expect protection! [11]
Harold B. Lee
The Lord’s world of wisdom . . . counsels the simple diet of fruits, grains, and vegetables in season, with meats used sparingly, has been given you as a revelation of God’s great law of health . . . If by faith in this great law, you refrain from the use of food and drink harmful to your bodies, you will not become a ready prey to scourges that shall sweep the land, as in the days of the people of Moses in Egypt, bringing death to every household that has not heeded the commandments of God. [12]
Ezra Taft Benson
We need a generation of young people who, as Daniel, eat in a more healthy manner – and whose countenances show it.
Scripture
Deuteronomy 7:12-15
Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto their fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land… Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
D&C 89:18-21
And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health to their naval and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures. And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, …promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them,… & not slay them.em.
- ↑ Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith as a Prophet, Scrapbook of Mormon Literature, Vol 1, p.118
- ↑ The Teachings of Joseph Smith, p. 515
- ↑ Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 186
- ↑ Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p 184
- ↑ Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 190
- ↑ Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 11 p. 370, Wilford Woodruff, April 7, 1867
- ↑ Gospel Standards, Selections from Sermons and Writings of Heber J. Grant, p. 59
- ↑ Gospel Standards, Selections from Sermons and Writings of Heber J. Grant, p. 48
- ↑ D&C 89:18-21 ; Exodus 16: 26 ; Deuteronomy 7:12-15; 28:58-63
- ↑ D&C 93:40-43
- ↑ Doctrines of Salvation, Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith, Vol. III, pp. 28-29
- ↑ The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, p. 205-6
