Stewardship Over Mortal Bodies

Among all of man’s achievements, none can equal the experience of becoming cocreators with God in giving life or in helping a child learn, grow, and thrive—whether it be as parents, teachers, or leaders, or in any other role. There is no stewardship more sacred, more fulfilling, and also more demanding than that of partnering with our Creator in providing physical bodies for His spirit children and then helping them reach their divine potential.

The responsibility of cocreation serves as a constant reminder that life and each person’s body are sacred, that they belong to none other than God, and that He has made us guardians to respect, protect, and care for them. The commandments of God, which govern the powers of procreation and the establishment of eternal families, guide us in this holy stewardship, which is so crucial to His plan.

"We are building up the literal kingdom of God on the earth, and we have temporal duties to perform. We inhabit temporal bodies, we eat temporal food, we build temporal houses, we raise temporal cattle and temporal wheat; we contend with temporal weeds, and with temporal enemies in our soil, and these things naturally give rise to the necessity of attending to and performing many duties of a temporal and arduous nature, and they, of course, are embraced in our religion."

"I think that another reason why I have very splendid strength for an old man is that during the years we have had a cafeteria in the Utah Hotel I have not, with the exception of not more than a dozen time, ordered meat of any kind. On those special occasion I have mentioned, I have perhaps had a small, tender lamb chop. I have endeavored to live the Word of Wisdom, and that in my opinion, is the one reason for my good health."

[In reference to sound stewardship practice on Church-owned lands:] "And may I remind you that it generally takes several times as much land to produce a given amount of food when grains are fed to livestock and we consume the meat. Let us be careful not to overdo beef cattle and other livestock projects on our welfare farms."

"[God] knows what course to pursue to restore mankind to their pristine excellency and primitive vigor, and health; and he has appointed the word of wisdom as one of the engines to bring about this thing, to remove the beastly appetites, the murderous disposition and the vitiated taste of man; to restore his body to health, and vigour, promote peace between him and the brute creation . . . Let men attend to [the Word of Wisdom], let them use the things ordained of God; let them be sparing of the life of animals; ‘it is pleasing saith the Lord that flesh be used only in times of winter, or of famine’—and why to be used in famine? because all domesticated animals would naturally die, and may as well be made use of by man, as not."

"Attempting to make everything we do into a virtuous practice brings us closer to the exercise of responsible stewardship over the earth. To encourage us in these virtuous efforts, the Church advocates the principles of thrift, self-reliance, and self-sufficiency; it also promotes gardening, eating seasonal produce, and limiting the amount of meat we consume. Generally our church couches these messages in terms of “temporal self-reliance” without any mention of their environmental effects, but the environmental benefits of such a life are clear. If all Mormons practiced these principles, we would be the greenest people on the earth."

"If all creation testifies of God, then all our actions should testify that we believe in that same Creator and that we accept our roles as stewards of this creation, starting with our bodies, our families, our homes, and personal property."

1. In our lovely Deseret, Where the Saints of God have met, There's a multitude of children all around. They are generous and brave; They have precious souls to save; They must listen and obey the gospel's sound.

2. That the children may live long And be beautiful and strong, Tea and coffee and tobacco they despise, Drink no liquor, and they eat But a very little meat; They are seeking to be great and good and wise.

"The connection between the sacred and profane is entirely a proper one, and I welcome the excuse for a philosophical discourse. For as we learn even from the Word of Wisdom, body and mind—the temporal and the spiritual—are inseparable, and to corrupt the one is to corrupt the other. Inevitably our surroundings become a faithful reflection of our mentality and vice versa. The right people, according to Brigham Young, could convert hell to heaven, and the wrong ones heaven to hell."

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has far more zoophilic teachings in an official capacity than other denominations in the United States. In addition to the premise that cruelty to animals breeds cruelty to humans, the Latter-day Saints have added as doctrine the principle that animals are to be resurrected and placed in kingdoms of heavenly glory with humans. As indicated by some authorities, this means that man may be accountable to God for the abusive treatment given to them on earth. Additionally, the Church's health code, known as the Word of Wisdom, admonished the use of meat 'sparingly' to be used in times of winter, or cold weather, or famine. This is all tempered by the doctrine that man is divine, and animals are definitely of a lower sphere of existence and may be killed to supply food for man. These doctrines form the basis for the Latter-day Saint emphasis found lacking in other denominations."

"Raising animals for food is a highly inefficient use of resources . . . We could instead directly consume the food we feed the animals with much less cost to the environment and to our health (not to mention the health of the animals!). Not only could we feed ourselves, we'd have enough food left over to feed all of the world's poor."

"It is not widely understood how much more energy, land, water, and other resources are required to produce animal foods versus plant foods. In California, for example, it takes roughly 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes or wheat; 49 gallons for apples; 815 gallons for chicken; 1,630 gallons for pork; and a whopping 5,214 gallons of water for a pound of beef. You would save more water by not eating one pound of California beef than you would by not showering for six months."

"Can Heavenly Father be any less pleased with this willful destruction of nature than when we break the Word of Wisdom? Certainly, if we are to become like him, we must begin to master the skills necessary to preserve and encourage the processes of life. It seems to me that part of our responsibility as caretakers for the earth is to learn about those processes and take advantage of opportunities to protect our world’s resources."

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and elements inseparably connected, receive a fullness of joy; And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.

Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving. Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be use sparingly; and it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine. All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth. And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger. . . . And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasure; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.

Wherefore, with the help of these, king Benjamin, by laboring with all the might of his body and the faculty of his whole soul, and also the prophets, did once more establish peace in the land.

I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness; therefore, the Lord has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples.

For I know that ye have searched much, many of you, to know of things to come; wherefore I know that ye know that our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless, in our bodies we shall see God.