Gluttony: How to Be Set Free
January 6, 2009 by Kim T
Filed under Eat Well, Emotional Eating
I read a sobering article a few weeks ago that stated gluttony, or excessive eating, is the most accepted sin in the Christian community. And it is one of the focus areas of a Christian weight loss approach. If excessive eating is a challenge for you, I’ve got a picture that can change your life.
I think of gluttony as getting drunk from food. Think about it…how do you feel after stuffing yourself from Thanksgiving dinner? Don’t you feel lethargic…sleepy?
The bible itself lumps drunkenness and gluttony together in Proverbs 23:21:
“For drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”
Both alcohol and food have a profound effect on your mental state. Alcohol has a depressive effect and lowers your inhibitions. Certain foods have a chemical makeup that can either make you feel calm or more mentally alert, depending on the food.
While God created food for you to enjoy and allows you to drink alcohol, moderation is key. The problem comes when both are done to excess and you are unable to control yourself.
I learned recently that the root word of gluttony means “to gulp.” How fitting! When I used to overeat, I was less concerned about what I was eating and more about getting it down as fast as I could to get to the mental effects the food would bring me. I was using food to self medicate.
Is that true of you?
And then after the excessive eating, when my stomach was stretched and aching, I would be overwhelmed with shame and guilt…and regret. I was frustrated and depressed, wondering why I seemed able to control every other area of my life but this one.
It also impacted my spiritual life. As I made excuses for my behavior in this area, it became easier to make excuses for other behavior in my life that wasn’t pleasing to God.
Do you have peace about your eating habits? Gluttony can be a destructive habit at any size. I’ve seen people who are slim, but are secretly bulimic. They eat excessively then purge themselves afterwards.
While my faith helped me to renew my mind regarding eating healthy, it took longer to overcome my tendency to overeat. To this day, there are times when my mind still wants to keep going even after my body says “Enough.” Especially if the food is good! But with God’s help, I have gained the self control to say “No” to the temptation.
So what picture was I referring to earlier? A couple of weeks ago, I was fasting and praying, and a picture popped into my head of a man with horizontal lines going through his body. Before the image left me, I took a piece of paper and drew it out. I called the image “Temptation Anatomy”.
Once I looked at the picture, it became clear to me as to why gluttony became a habit for me. I believe this picture can be the key to overcoming every other negative habit that you might be struggling with.
Take a moment to look at the picture below:
The reason people fall victim to temptations is failure to make the cut between your thoughts and imagination when it comes to destructive thinking habits. Just having a thought about a temptation is not a sin. However, when you start indulging your imagination about that thought, involving your heart and emotions by picturing yourself engaged in that act, that’s when it gives birth to sin.
In the bible, Jesus said that if any man looks on a woman with lust in his heart he has already committed adultery with her (see Matthew 5:28). This is true because the act of imagination breeds desire, desire a decision to do it, and finally, the decision to act. If it is a habit you’ve practiced a long time, you may not even be aware that you go through these steps…because you’ve done them so many times that you move to Action with lightning speed.
I realized with my gluttony habit in the past, I would often think about going to buy a Pepperidge Farm coconut cake. Then I would generate mental pictures and movies in my head about how good it would taste, which would make me desire to have it. Then, I would decide to go get it. Finally, I would take action and drive to the store. I would end up eating the cake with abandon, even on occasion eating the whole thing.
So you see, a diet will NEVER fix the tendency to gluttony. It is an external solution to an internal problem. Sure, you can restrict your food intake, but unless you learn to exercise self control at the Imagination level, you will go back to your old habits as soon as the diet is over.
Makes sense?
Here is the mistake most people make: They have the thought, start imagine doing it, desire to do it…then try to exercise self control at the Decision level by talking themselves out of it. That is way too late! Once you start imagining, it is very hard to stop yourself from moving to action.
So the easiest thing to do is to stop it right at the Thought level…imagine cutting the temptation off at the head as in the picture. Then, patiently replace the thought with something else because the mind cannot hold onto two thoughts at the same time.
What is the best thing to replace your thoughts with? The word of God. That is why it is so important that you study the bible so that your mind is renewed and you can be transformed. My favorite scriptures related to this habit are Romans 14:17 – “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
And Galatians 5:22-23 is another good one: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
Print the “Temptation Anatomy” picture and post it on your refrigerator or any other place where you need the reminder of how temptations work.
Pray that God grant you wisdom in your eating habits and trust that he will answer your prayer. SLOW DOWN and really taste your food. Enjoy it. You must eat slowly in order to hear when your body says “Enough.” And when it speaks, listen and stop eating. Put the fork, spoon, bag or box down. What the enemy means for harm, you can allow God to work the situation out for your good.
Your mind will protest as you start this new habit, but smile and simply tell yourself, “No.” Speak it aloud if you have to. What the mouth speaks, the ears hear, and the soul absorbs.
You will be amazed at how powerful this little word will make you feel. And each time you say it, it will get easier.
Finally, learn about other ways you can relax and calm down. I’ve have found that most people overeat in response to stress. There are far more effective ways to manage stress than to eat. One simple, but overlooked technique is to practice deep breathing regularly when you feel tension in your body. Another is simple stretching exercises. Praise music is also a great relaxation tool. Find some alternatives that work well for you.
The bottom line is that your body is not your own. Remember, because you are a disciple of Christ, your body houses God’s spirit – an honored guest! Keep this in mind as you welcome that guest by allowing him to cultivate those fruits of the Spirit within you, including the fruit of self control.
Then by your faith and positive action, you will be truly asking God to “Take Back Your Temple.”
I really hate myself. I’ll restrict my food take a laxative if I feel I ate too much, and cut myself with a razor blade just to deal with the pain inside. So it’s extremely offensive when someone claims my body belongs to God, Christ and what I do it is wrong. What I do to my body is not wrong. It does not even belong to God because I AM NOT HIS CHILD in the first place. So I can do as I please with my body because I don’t belong to God. Hate myself anyway. Might as well continue to self-destruct.
Hi Kim- This article brings to mind as a child at the dinner table , my mother would scream and scream about spilling the milk and cleaning the plate. As a child , I tried to please my mother by cleaning my plate. She still continued to scream and I ate faster to leave the dinner table. As a consequence , I learned to eat too much too fast. I broke my appetite mechanisms completely. I hate eating with people and tend to wolf down . I also hate my mother screaming and all the anxiety she caused around food. I tend to handle all emotional issues with food ( sweets in particular). Thank God your program is helping to conquer this stronghold !! I am looking forward to a ” suddenly” of God deliverance through Jesus !!!
Hi AC,
There is a reason you were led to this website that celebrates those who have accepted Jesus Christ as children of God. And there is a reason you decided to post here rather than quickly leaving the site when you saw that it was contrary to what you believe. You must be in a lot of pain to hate yourself and to express that in hurting yourself. Yes, it is certainly your choice to continue to live the way your are living, but I am here to tell you there is a better way to live. God promises this: “Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth (Jeremiah 33:6).” Your current way of living is not one of peace – instead one of fear and torment. God does not want you to live this way. He has given you a future and hope (Jeremiah 29:11).
When you are ready to take hold of a future in which you are healed of emotional pain and can look forward to a future of promise, then go here and read stories from people like you whose lives have been changed through the power of God through Jesus : http://www.ccci.org/how-to-know-god/my-story-a-life-changed/index.htm
Hello AC my friend,
Dare I call you “my friend” and not know the first thing about you other than you hate yourself and punish yourself because of the hate? I dare!
What I won’t “DARE TO DO” is presume that I know how you feel and why you feel the way you do.
My name is Mike Taylor and I am a seasonal contributor to this site.
I have a few rhetorical questions for you. First, how did you find us here at TakeBackYourTemple.com?
Secondly, why did you take the time to respond when there are so many sites like this one speaking and doing the same thing?
Finally, are you on a mission to search out these type of sites to confront them for being presumptuous and offensive to you?
We are not here to offend you or anyone else and again I won’t presume to know how you feel or what offend you the most. HOWEVER,………….if I were to guess, my guess would be that you don’t like the way you are and would like for someone, ANYONE to give you a reason for hope. My guess is that you are crying for help internally and in the form of contrary.
Now, now; before you throw a rotten tomato at your monitor and start cussin’ about now, just take a deep breath and read on; if it’s painful to read, please endure it for the moment because I can indeed tell that you have endured a lot of pain in just those few lines you’ve typed.
Now friend, let’s consider for a moment what is causing you so much pain “INSIDE”; we know it’s inside and very painful for you because you have suggested cutting yourself externally with a razor to divert your attention from the pain inside (your words – not mine).
If you are obese, how do you really feel about that? Do you hate yourself because you are obese? If so, is it because of seemingly or open rejection from friends, family and the public?
If you believe your are unattractive in the physical, is it because of the same reason in the above paragraph?
If there is no mate in your life; does that make you cry at night?
If your friends are limited, does that make you bitter?
If you are between jobs, does that bring on high levels of anxiety?
I suspect that the answer to some of all of the above questions are in the affirmative and all are internal conditions; conditions that can’t easily be dealt with in the physical.
Think about it, you can’t bust everyone in the face that rejects you even though it would make you feel GREAT for the moment.
You can’t make people love you or be your friend! Work is rather hard to find in this stressed economy “Worldwide”!
BUT EVEN SO, SOMEBODY GOT TO PAY FOR YOUR DISCOMFORT and you seem to think that someone must be you because you are the most vulnerable person you know as your family, friend and certainly foe will not take any abuse from you.
With that being said why should you take abuse from yourself in any form? We will take God out of the midst “BUT FOR A MOMENT because if you don’t believe in him or that he even cares for you in the midst of what you are going through is a moot point for both of us at this time but not a waste of my time in the least. (I have taken the time to respond because I do feel your pain these many miles away.)
I have contemplated suicide during my late teen years because I was a very lonely young man and felt that I was useless in this world. I felt UGLY in uppercase letters. It’s ironic because I was just telling my wife yesterday about an old acquaintance who was considered a lady’s dream and how he would always want me to hang out with him so that the women would contrast him against me. What I didn’t tell my wife is that he actually slipped and told me that!
Here is how that conversation went as I recollect again (now funny but painful back then). We were both on the same job and he wanted to take a walk at lunch time on this fine sunny summer day. At first I wasn’t going to go because I wanted to eat my lunch but he insisted so I went.
He was really thin and had one of those big blowout Afro’s of the 70′s. His skin was creamy smooth and he had that high yellow complexion as oppose to my dark colored skin and nappy hair.
We walked the first block and the women had “NO SHAME” in flirting with him with their eyes and even approaching him in conversation; and things weren’t quite as liberal for women as they are today and that didn’t stop them. He even mange to get about three phone numbers on our walk; I was in awe.
Now here we go! I said “Man Greg!” “The girls are coming up and onto you like flies and not one of them even knew I was here”. I said that with enthusiasm and as a compliment to my friend. He in turned chuckled and said “Yeah I know, that’s why I wanted you to walk with me as contrast”. His words faded at the end as he suddenly realized what he was actually saying, then he chuckled again and tried to make it seem like he was joking but I knew he wasn’t and now it does make me feel a little sad to remember that because I also remember another friend named Rob doing the exact same thing with the same response but he in my opinion was “Butt Ugly” compared to me I thought and yet there were the women clamoring onto him; how do you think I felt and what was going on in my mind?
But enough about me and that got me away from your pain for the moment and probably did the same for you as you thought within “what a poor sap!”
Eventually, God was introduced into my life and it took faith for me to believe in him when everything around me seemed so wrong because what I thought I knew I later discovered that I knew absolutely nothing. Because I decided to cut myself some slack (no, not cut me) and extend trust in God, he began to reveal himself to me in many mightily ways. I now realize that I was simply a diamond in the rough back then and soon were turning women heads towards me even as a married man but I won’t fall into that trap because I know the enemy wants to destroy me and see me DEAD physically because I have so much to offer God’s people which the enemy hates.
I realize you said you are not God’s child which is the same as a person in the natural saying their absentee dad whom they have never seen is not their dad even though he planted the seed that conceived them; the difference is that God truly cares where the absentee dad does not.
God is not absent in your life and I suspect you didn’t come across our site by happenstance. We shall continue to do what we do here but I will ask this one favor from you as painful as it may be to you I am asking that you grant me; a stranger this one request.
Sometime shortly after you read this post, say: “God, I don’t understand what is going on in my life or why things are the way they are. I don’t even think I believe that you even exist because my life is miserable in my own eyes; for I cut myself. However, if you are who you say you are, please reveal yourself to me in some way so that I can believe and can have hope that I can live peaceably within myself”.
Now my friend God said in his Word that you must first believe. I am confident that even in your unbelieving state, if you will repeat the above words out loud in the privacy of your own home and mean it; God will miraculously reveal himself to you in some way that only “YOU” will know it. It will scare you and make you very happy at the same time. You will experience peace that you have never felt since the time you were born. AT THAT TIME; you will then have a decision to make which is to now believe in God and trust him no matter what, for his plans are to do you good and no hurt or you can reject him and continue to experience the pain of the razor while trying to hide or mask the pain inside which will indeed lead to your natural destruction and at that point EVERYTHING will become clear but it won’t matter my friend.
Do me this one favor please, as I am confident you will be doing yourself a favor as well!
I truly am rooting for you (smiles always)!
I have more to share with you and perhaps you will allow me the opportunity to do just that in your prosperous and peaceful future.
Mike Taylor
Reading this article has brought me to tears. I knew in my mind that my overeating was a sin, but it has never cut my heart. Until now. I thank the Lord for sending me to this website. I can no longer pretend this is not a sin. Please pray for me as I attempt to change. Not in order to look model-thin, but in order to honor the precious Lord who died for me.
This was soo helpful. I got online looking for the word of God to combat my overeating and I found it. It makes soo much sense, a good strategy to defeat the enemy of our minds (and yes, sometimes ourselves). I’m glad you have posted this sight. 1Corinthians 6:19 is a verse I prayed early in life (and still do today) to combat sexual immorality (whenever I see something on TV, or a magazine, anything), so I know it works. I just didn’t extrapolate and realize that my eating was also a sin of the flesh, and driven by temptation the same way. So if I’ve overcome lust, I can overcome my lust for food! It’s the same thing! God is great! Wonderful sight!
Well, i tried many times to go on diet and then i grow more fat instead of slimming down. i am tired of listening the comments and negative vibes of people teasing me. i was helpless but this article helped me to control the root of gluttony “thoughts”. hope i overcome.
My biggest sin is gluttony, but reading this article made me recognize something far worse. Ive accepted Christ as My Lord and Savior but at the same time I really havent, because I continue to sin, when I read “your body is not your own,” thats when it hit me, I havent given him that, I continue to sin and refuse to stop enjoying headonist like pleasures. It makes me sad and scared that I cant commit to him completely. Thank you for writing this article.
I am ready to confront my sin for what it is. God has led me here, I know. I eat and often don’t think about what I’m putting in my mouth. I lost 20lbs by swimming, but gained it back when I stopped swimming (health issues) but will start again in July after knee replacement surgery. I need to get my mindless snacking under control. THANK YOU for helping me see that indeed this is a spiritual issue. That the sin needs to stop at the “Thought” level. I just never looked at it that way. Either I would impulsively eat, or think about how good something would taste. I have asked God’s forgiveness and am currently memorizing Psalm 121. when I am finished with that I will work on some of the verses you’ve mentioned. Thank you again!
Thank you for writing this article. I too have had problems with overeating and I have been praying for an answer to get it under control. I have also prayed for self control…I need a revelation. I want to honor God in EVERYTHING I do. Pray for me to find the truth in my overeating…I feel like I have lost complete control. I will renew my mind at the thought level. God Bless you!