MH page 176

The tempted one needs to understand the true force of the will. This is the governing power in the nature of man—the power of decision, of choice. Everything depends on the right action of the will. Desires for goodness and purity are right, so far as they go; but if we stop here, they avail nothing. Many will go down to ruin while hoping and desiring to overcome their evil propensities. They do not yield the will to God. They do not choose to serve Him.

The human will is the governing power of decision and choice, and spiritual victory requires yielding that will to God rather than relying solely on passing desires. This paragraph addresses the spiritual and moral framework of human decision-making and surrender to God, without making testable empirical claims.

God has given us the power of choice; it is ours to exercise. We cannot change our hearts, we cannot control our thoughts, our impulses, our affections. We cannot make ourselves pure, fit for God's service. But we can choose to serve God, we can give Him our will; then He will work in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Thus our whole nature will be brought under the control of Christ.

While humans cannot independently reform their own hearts or thoughts, they can choose to yield their will to God, enabling divine transformation. The text focuses on spiritual agency and divine grace in personal transformation.

Through the right exercise of the will, an entire change may be made in the life. By yielding up the will to Christ, we ally ourselves with divine power. We receive strength from above to hold us steadfast. A pure and noble life, a life of victory over appetite and lust, is possible to everyone who will unite his weak, wavering human will to the omnipotent, unwavering will of God.

Yielding the human will to Christ connects the individual to divine power, enabling victory over appetite and lust. The passage discusses spiritual empowerment and religious devotion.

Those who are struggling against the power of appetite should be instructed in the principles of healthful living. They should be shown that violation of the laws of health, by creating diseased conditions and unnatural cravings, lays the foundation of the liquor habit. Only by living in obedience to the principles of health can they hope to be freed from the craving for unnatural stimulants. While they depend upon divine strength to break the bonds of appetite, they are to co-operate with God by obedience to His laws, both moral and physical.

Overcoming the liquor habit requires both divine dependence and physical obedience to health laws that prevent unnatural cravings. Combines a spiritual directive regarding divine strength with an empirical claim linking physical health practices to substance addiction cravings.