Self Control and Discipline as the Antidote to Gluttony

In July, I wrote a blog post about gluttony. Not surprisingly, it hit a nerve with a lot of people. I had many people tell me that they didn't realize that they had an issue with gluttony until after reading the blog. So, for the month of September, I wanted to expand on this topic and focus the weekly prayers on self control and discipline with regards to gluttony.

{to read the blog on gluttony, click here}

{for those of you who have no idea what the weekly prayers are, start here: 52 weeks, 52 prayers campaign}

First, a little background on gluttony: 

1. Gluttony is not just about food. The actual definition of gluttony is to over-indulge and over-consume food, drink, or wealth items to the point of extravagance or waste. 
2. Gluttony is more about a lack of self control than it is about food. We, as followers of Christ, are called to have a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7) and to be self controlled (Galatians 5:22-23). We should not allow anything to control us, whether that be food, alcohol, wealth, sex, career, etc. When we over-consume and over-indulge, we are not acting with a spirit of self control, but are giving in to desires of our flesh.
3. Gluttony is a sin when we use food, or anything, to REPLACE Jesus, to fill a void that Jesus alone is meant to fill. God is a jealous God, and he wants NOTHING to come before him. 
4. The more we let food fill the voids in our life, the more we focus on ourselves, instead of focusing on God. We, as christians are called to continually die to ourselves and to live for Christ. No matter what we are doing, no matter what has happened during our day, we do everything with Jesus in mind. 1 Corinthians 10:31 sums it up best, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

WHY IS GLUTTONY SUCH A BIG DEAL TO GOD?
Even though gluttony is not talked about much today, the Bible is clear that gluttony is a sin. Gluttony is an outward, concrete, literal example of FLESH. We, as followers of Jesus are called to die to our flesh and to live in the spirit. When we live in the spirit we are steadfast and self controlled with our focus solely on Jesus. When we live in the flesh, we are only concerned about ourself, we look for instant satisfaction, we are greedy, and gluttonous.

Self control is the antidote to gluttony. This is why we will be focusing our prayers this month on self control and discipline. We will be praying for self control not just with our food and drink choices, but in all areas of life that affect our health. So, whether you suffer from emotional eating, sugar addiction, alcoholism, or are a workaholic, I hope you will join in with us as we pray for self controlled and Christ like behavior.

To find the prayers each week:

Head over to our website each week where the current week's prayer will be posted on the right side bar.

Follow me on Instagram, @abbyshroka or like us on Facebook by clicking here, to see each week's prayer.

If you missed last month's prayer topic (nagging aches and pains), click here.

Wishing you Health, Hope, & Happiness

Abby