How the Bible Can Help Diabetes Sufferers

SELF-CONTROL and a positive outlook are especially vital to the health and well-being of people with diabetes. But to cultivate such qualities, the sufferers need ongoing support. So family members and friends would not want to tempt the person with diabetes to eat unwholesome food, perhaps saying, ‘Just this once won’t hurt.’ “I receive fine support from my wife,” says Harry, who has heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. “She doesn’t keep foods around that I should not eat. But some others do not understand, and they do not know how hard that makes it at times.”

If you regularly associate with a person who has diabetes, keep in mind the following two beautiful precepts found in the Bible: “Let each one keep seeking, not his own advantage, but that of the other person,” and “Love . . . does not look for its own interests.”​—1 Corinthians 10:24; 13:4, 5.

All who are concerned about their health​—whether they have diabetes or not—​need to exercise restraint with food. The Bible helps in this regard, for it points out the need for each of us to develop self-control. Have you resolved to cultivate this quality in your life? (Galatians 5:22, 23) Additional help can come from Bible examples, such as the Christian apostle Paul. “He had a permanent thorn in his flesh,” says one diabetes sufferer, “yet he still served God faithfully and fully. So can I!”

Yes, Paul accepted what he could not change and enjoyed great success as a missionary. (2 Corinthians 12:7-9) Dustin, 18, has been blind from birth, and he has had diabetes since the age of 12. He writes: “I know that no one in this world has everything just perfect. I look forward to the time in God’s new world when I won’t have diabetes. To me, it is just a temporary thing. It may last longer than a cold or the flu, but eventually it will end.”

In making that statement, Dustin had in mind the Bible-based hope of perfect health in a paradise earth under God’s Kingdom. (Revelation 21:3, 4) God’s Word promises that under such divine rule, “no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’” (Isaiah 33:24; Matthew 6:9, 10) Would you like to learn more about this Bible-based promise? Contact Jehovah’s Witnesses locally, or write to the publishers of this magazine at the appropriate address listed on page 5.

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Self-control and a positive outlook are vital