"Often intemperance begins in the home. By the use of rich, unhealthful food the digestive organs are weakened, and a desire is created for food that is still more stimulating. Thus the appetite is educated to crave continually something stronger. The demand for stimulants becomes more frequent and more difficult to resist. The system becomes more or less filled with poison, and the more debilitated it becomes, the greater is the desire for these things. One step in the wrong direction prepares the way for another. Many who would not be guilty of placing on their table wine or liquor of any kind will load their table with food which creates such a thirst for strong drink that to resist the temptation is almost impossible. Wrong habits of eating and drinking destroy the health and prepare the way for drunkenness. MH 334.1"
"Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again."
This passage describes the progression of intemperance and its effects, mirroring the description of how intemperance begins in the home and leads to stronger cravings.
"There would soon be little necessity for temperance crusades if in the youth who form and fashion society, right principles in regard to temperance could be implanted. Let parents begin a crusade against intemperance at their own firesides, in the principles they teach their children to follow from infancy, and they may hope for success. MH 334.2"
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
This verse directly supports the idea of training children in the right way from a young age, which aligns with the passage's emphasis on instilling temperance principles in youth.
"There is work for mothers in helping their children to form correct habits and pure tastes. Educate the appetite; teach the children to abhor stimulants. Bring your children up to have moral stamina to resist the evil that surrounds them. Teach them that they are not to be swayed by others, that they are not to yield to strong influences, but to influence others for good. MH 334.3"
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
The EGW passage directly applies the principle of Proverbs 22:6, focusing on training children in correct habits and resisting evil influences, aligning with the verse's emphasis on guiding a child's development.
"Great efforts are made to put down intemperance; but there is much effort that is not directed to the right point. The advocates of temperance reform should be awake to the evils resulting from the use of unwholesome food, condiments, tea, and coffee. We bid all temperance workers Godspeed; but we invite them to look more deeply into the cause of the evil they war against and to be sure that they are consistent in reform. MH 334.4"
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"
This verse speaks to the importance of addressing one's own faults before criticizing others, which aligns with the passage's call for temperance advocates to examine their own habits and be consistent in reform.