Gluttony

My Disclaimer: I am not without sin! I will probably hurt your feelings and I will definitely make you think. This is what God laid on my heart to write and I did the best I could. I hope it touches you and I hope you share it, no matter how it makes you feel. Thank you for reading and well enjoy as always.

"Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything." 1 Corinthians 6:12
" So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31

Gluttony is a sin, the sin of gorging ones self, it is THE sin that can quite literally result in death. Yet it is also a sin that is rarely approached from the pulpit. In my 25 years as a Christian I have actually only heard it addressed once in a sermon and it was brief. Now I am not knocking Pastors after all they have a multitude of other matters to preach on. I do wonder sometimes though why it is not addressed more often, since it does seem to inflict large numbers of the Christian population. It is obvious the it is even a sin common to Pastors themselves.
I myself struggle with the sin of gluttony. I am actually writing this post for myself just as much as I am writing it for you. Why do I give in to gluttony when I know it is sinful? Well for me a large part of it is a complete lack of self control. In Galatians 5 verses 22 and 23 it lists the fruits of the Spirit including self control. Galatians 5:16 says "So I say live by the Spirit" 19 says "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious". Hello,  if our expanding waist line and failing health is not obvious then I do not know what is! Paul even goes on to say in Galatians 6:7 that we will "reap what we sow". If we sow into our sinful desire to over eat we will reap the destruction of our bodies. These bodies were given to us by God. We are to care for them as His temple.
1 Corinthians 6:20 "you were bought at a price. Therefor honor God with your body". With no self control every emotion, every craving, every thought about food becomes a selfish desire for myself. It is just as Philippians 3:19 says " Their (ok just insert MY) destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach and their glory is in their shame". If I made the choice to eat less and pray more I would reap the benefits of better health and a closer walk with God. That is what I want! That is what you want too right? After all Christ says "My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" 2 Corinthians 12:9. Human nature compels us to eat what we crave, eat away our emotions, eat our hearts desire it is not human nature to just put the doughnut down and pray. Yet this is what we need to learn to do.

Defile: to violate the sanctity of...
Take a moment to read Daniel 1:8-16.
 "⁸ But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. ⁹ Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, ¹⁰ but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your^[a] food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
 ¹¹ Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ¹² “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” ¹⁴ So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

 ¹⁵ At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. ¹⁶ So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead."

Do you think the food you eat defiles your body? Do you think the reason you over eat is because of what you are eating? Have you considered changing your eating habits for a healthier life? Have you considered putting what you eat in the hands of God? As a Christian who just loves to cook and eat I hold onto Matthew 15: 11 "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man but what proceeds out of the mouth this defiles the man". Yet at the same time I understand that food as an addiction can be a huge stumbling block and would be better off left on the store shelf then brought into our homes.

We are controlled by consumption (not just of food, alcohol comes to mind here too),we are in bondage to it. We know we are, we do, we know that we live to eat when we should be eating to live and leave it at that. So what if we as a group, as individuals, as families, as churches, as friends committed to a week of less food and more prayer? What if instead of running to the kitchen table we ran to our prayer closet? What if we did this for a month, 6 months, 2 years, our entire life!? There would be a spiritual revival with health benefits!! I am not saying to stop eating, no I am just saying eat less, pray more. It sure wouldn't hurt us to try!

Fasting Isiah 58:5-7
⁵ Is such the fast that I choose,
    a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
   and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
   and a day acceptable to the LORD? ⁶"Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of wickedness,
   to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed^[b] go free,
   and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
   and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

In looking for the spiritual definition of fasting I came across this verse and thought it was perfect. So "fasting" I bet you saw this one coming from a mile away. If not you are having your palm to forehead duh moment right now. We know there are spiritual benefits to fasting. What better way to break your bondage to gluttony then to give it up as you come to the Lord in prayer. Like I said before I am not telling you to stop eating not by a long shot. That is the great thing about fasting you choose what to give up, how much to give up and when. Then you turn it all over to God. You take the time it would have taken you to prepare or consume and you give it to the Lord. It is a sacrifice, you are telling God that you would rather have Him in your life then the thing you are giving up. It is not going to be easy, but as you grow in the Spirit and in the knowledge of the Word you will want Him more and food less. If you desire to learn more about fasting I suggest really digging into the book of Daniel, the writings of Paul and of course speaking to your Pastor. 

Now, I am going to take this a little further. The next time you sit down to eat take a good look at your plate, at everything you are going to eat and ask yourself "Do I really need all of this?" The answer I bet ya is going to be "No." so go ahead and have your Tupperware sitting next to your plate, take half of what you planned on eating and put it away.  If you get hungry later eat it then, save it for your next meal or better yet use it for tomorrows lunch. 
Did that hurt? Nope. 
Could you do that every time you sit down at the dinner table? Probably. 
Did I just save you the $5 you would have spent on lunch tomorrow? Why yes I did! See how frugal I can be! 
Now lets take the next baby step in this process and this one might hurt just a little. 
I want you to take a look at the plate of the child sitting next to you. What are you teaching your child about food, about eating, what about over eating and gluttony? You do realize they learn to live by your example and obesity is on the rise among our children at an alarming rate. I will not tell you how to raise your child that is for you to decide but I do want you to think about the destiny you are setting them up for.

Now in my head I keep hearing that mom you know the one I think she was on TV when we were little, maybe she was in the kitchen, or maybe she is you. She is the mom telling her children to eat every bite on their oversize'd plate because they are so lucky, because children in a third world country are going to bed hungry. Hey I am guilty of it I have told my kids just how lucky they are I feed them! But seriously, come on! I mean really mom if you are so concerned about the starving children buy a little less at the grocery store and send that extra money to someone who will feed them! Do not guilt trip your child into having food anxiety because someone somewhere they have never been might be hungry. 

Consider how much money you spend on groceries. How much of that is thrown away or results in over eating? Now consider buying 10% less, making smaller meals, serving smaller portions and donating that 10% savings to a charity that will feed the truly hungry. Am I making you think? I sure hope so!

I also hear the people saying that it is not a lack of self control but a lack of money that causes them to be over weight. Not being able to afford the finer things in life they eat "bad" food and therefore end up obese. Let me hop on my soap box for just a sec; ok much better. I feed a family of seven got that seven on  less then $600 a month most months I spend less then $500 and that includes diapers, wipes and every paper product a big family can imagine. We do not have money for the finer things in life but I have noticed that for about the same price as a bag of chips and a bottle of pop I can buy the fixings for a simple salad. Do not lay the excuse of your sin on anything or anyone other then yourself. The devil did not make you over eat you did that yourself. You can however change your destiny, you can fix the damage done by years of over eating and because we have such an amazingly awesome God you can be forgiven of your sin. Even if you fail again tomorrow God will be their to pick you up wipe the crumbs off your shirt and forgive you. God loves you, He desires the best for you, please take this to heart, He is waiting for you to let Him in, put down that doughnut and PRAY!!