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Key
Statement/Teaching |
Paragraph |
Seek the most competent professional help.
|
1 |
Members able to take advantage of medical science
knowing it does not detract from faith in God.
|
5 |
Healing should not be taken lightly.
|
14 |
Healing is conditional. We must diligently hearken to
the voice of the Lord our God. Do what is right in His
eyes. Keep the commandments.
|
15 |
The
promise of healing is conditional and predicated on
obedience.
|
16 |
A
vital component of a good health program is a balanced
diet which includes wholesome, natural foods and which
excludes (as much as is practical in our society)
processed foods such as sugars and starches, and
artificially flavored and preserved foods.
|
36 |
The
right amounts of exercise, sleep and relaxation are
important.
|
36 |
Maintaining a positive mental outlook and a peaceful
mental attitude by eliminating (or at least attenuating)
stress and flares of emotion is being increasingly
recognized by modern health specialists as an essential
health principle, considering the enormous effects
(called "psychosomatic") that the mind exerts on the
body.
|
36 |
Caution should be taken to prevent accidents and bodily
harm (without becoming obsessive or paranoid in the
process.)
|
36 |
Member should have a regular program of routine
physical examinations by a qualified doctor is also
important in recognizing and solving any potential
problems before they become serious.
|
36 |
Individuals must care for their bodies physically, just
as they must care for their minds mentally and
spiritually.
|
39 |
God
expects us to take care of our bodies.
|
40 |
God
expects us to make good use of available knowledge about
the human body, its functions and processes.
|
40 |
The
ill individual should look to man for whatever physical
help he can receive but should also look to God to do
what man cannot do - supernaturally intervene and divinely
remove the illness, sickness or disease.
|
41 |
The
sick person should call for the elders of the Church who
will lay hands upon his head, pray over him and anoint
him with oil.
|
42 |
It
is not wise to become sidetracked by undue concern over
whether certain detrimental physical practices under
consideration are, or are not, sin.
|
49 |
If
the physical practice under consideration is indeed
detrimental - as determined by biblical revelation or
scientific fact - It should be stopped, as even common
sense would dictate.
|
49 |
Understanding the significance of all these healings is
essential to salvation since they are a direct
verification that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ.
|
52 |
Examine yourself before taking the bread and wine. You
are examining yourself to answer one question: "Am I in
the faith"...the Salvation Process? Be definition, if
one is in the process, he or she is rightly discerning
the body and blood of Christ as it relates to healing
and salvation.
|
73 |
A
Christian must discern the body of the Lord which was
wounded so that we could be healed. We must also
identify with the sufferings and sacrifice of Jesus
Christ which are vital elements in the healing Process.
|
75 |
Anyone who seeks to be healed to show others his
righteousness or favor with God, or who desires
vindication of his position, or who craves recognition
of his spirituality will be sadly and sorrowful,
disappointed.
|
92 |
God
is looking for he that is humble and contrite in spirit,
and trembles at His word (Isaiah 66:2).
|
92 |
The
relationship between healing and faith is complex,
necessitating an understanding of the whole Bible and
current, practical experience.
|
95 |
An
actual healing or the lack of such a healing must never
be viewed as a straightforward indication of an
individual's righteousness, spirituality or favor with
God.
|
96 |
It
is our responsibility to yield to God and His Spirit so
that we may grow in this God-given faith. We should
beseech God to do what the apostles asked of Jesus in
Luke 17:5, "Increase our faith."
|
96 |
We
must understand there are factors in our own lives that
can sometimes work against our faith and that sometimes
it may not be there.
|
97 |
The
fact that one person decides to seek anointing for the
healing of a physical condition while another suffering
from the same condition, does not, can in no way be
taken to mean that the first person is necessarily
righteous or that the second person is necessarily
unrighteous.
|
98 |
We
are not to to blame a person who lacks or seems to lack
faith since faith comes from God.
|
99 |
Do
not overestimate your own faith. "Hoping" or "wishing"
to be healed is not the same thing as having the special
faith that God must give to really be healed.
|
106 |
Neglect is not faith, neither is fear of doctors and
hospitals.
|
106 |
One
should acknowledge his lack of faith if this is the
case.
|
110 |
Each must appraise his own faith realistically. But a
Christian who is realistic enough to soberly assess his
own faith and find it wanting is not a "weak" Christian.
He may in fact be quite a strong Christian, who is
converted enough to see himself as he really is; such an
individual will not bow to stubbornness or yield to
pride when his need of external help highlights his
physical debilities and spiritual imperfections.
|
111 |
No
one should take upon himself the role of spiritual judge
or "second guesser" over another's actions regarding
healing or faith.
|
112 |
Any
reasonable request for anointing should be honored,
regardless of the nature of the illness or affliction
and regardless of whether the person is consulting a
physician or of what treatment he may be undergoing.
|
112 |
It
is neither possible nor profitable to determine why God
has or has not healed an individual.
|
113 |
Healing may relate to any number of factors - the person
himself, his immediate family, his close friends, his
wider acquaintances, the minister involved, the timing,
the circumstances, etc. - and it is pointless to try to
discern why something did or did not happen with respect
to healing.
|
113 |
If
God's will is for a person to die, it should be in spite
of his best efforts to recover and not because of his
stubbornness in avoiding professional aid.
|
114 |
God
chooses who His martyrs will be: we cannot and must not
make this decision for ourselves.
|
114 |
A
Christian has responsibility to help himself if he
becomes ill or injured in addition to having trust in
God for healing.
|
118 |
If
we can stand on our own feet, we should. If we can do
something for ourselves, we are derelict in our
responsibility if we do not. God's Church has taught
this for years.
|
119 |
Each individual has the same responsibility to examine
alternative proposals, and seek and evaluate advice from
several professional sources before making a decision in
a serious health matter.
|
127 |
To
refuse the operation may only be the unintended neglect
of one's Christian responsibility to God and His Work.
|
128 |
James wrote that "faith without works is dead." This
applies to all aspects of the Christian life including
health maintenance, health care, disease prevention,
regular checkups by a qualified doctor, and healing
and/or medical procedures in times of illness or injury.
|
129 |
Christians should avail themselves of the best health
care that man can provide and, at the same time, ask God
to supernaturally supply what man cannot. This could
also include the sick person asking God to bless the
skill of the doctor in his diagnosis and treatment.
|
129 |
It
is the responsibility of each Christian to recognize the
important distinction between the physical and the
spiritual. God's miraculous intervention to heal is
spiritual; this healing is God's prerogative. What we do
for ourselves is physical, a means of aiding and
complementing the natural bodily processes in healing
the body. God does expect us to do what we can for
ourselves.
|
132 |
Surgical interventions, pharmacological prescriptions
and other medical procedures (whether diagnostic,
preventive or curative) must be evaluated on their own
merits and on their own terms.
|
133 |
When one chooses a physical procedure or medicine, his
concern should be for their effectiveness rather than
which method or medicine is more spiritual or biblical.
|
135 |
In
evaluating physical procedures in matters of health, the
Christian is encouraged to emphasize proper health
maintenance and disease prevention: there is minimum
expense, little inconvenience and no side effects to a
balanced program of health care.
|
136 |
Eat
natural foods (as much as logically possible) in a
balanced diet and avoiding processed sugars and
starches.
|
136 |
Proper health care should include periodic physical
examinations for all Christians and their families by a
qualified medical doctor.
|
137 |
Care should be taken to select the most able and
proficient doctor available as the family physician. He
should have a genuine interest and concern about the
health of all members of the family. Eminently qualified
specialists for particular problems should generally be
recommended by the family doctor.
|
137 |
When one seeks professional medical help, he should
select the most competent within his means. One is not
more "righteous" than another, but one might be more
skilled than another.
|
138 |
He
will be sound-minded in matters of health, not seeking
physically "miraculous" or unorthodox "cures " under the
false assumption that they are somehow more righteous
than the procedures of a knowledgeable specialist.
|
139 |
Christians must never judge one another, nor compare
themselves among themselves.
|
140 |
Do
not attempt to impose [force
yourself on others] your will or opinions on
health and healing unto others. Be respectful of
another person's approach to health and healing.
|
142 |
Do
encourage your brother in the faith to seek the best
care and professional help. Encourage them to be in the
best health they can. Encourage them to seek the best
information and ministerial counseling [see paragraph
143-145].
|
142 |