"Self-denial is one of the conditions not only of admission into the
service of Christ, but of continuance therein.
Christ himself declared, in
unmistakable language, the conditions of discipleship: "If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
Yet
how often, even in the case of those who call themselves Christians, the love
for some pernicious indulgence is stronger than the desire for
---a sound mind
---in a sound body.
Precious hours of probation are spent, God-given means
squandered, to please the eye or to gratify the appetite. Custom holds
thousands in bondage to the earthly and the sensual"
Matthew 16:24/E.G.W.