Gluttony Isn't What You Think It Is

What if gluttony is much broader than simply overeating? We explore why gluttony has become one of the least-discussed sin issues in modern Christian discipleship and how our relationship with food can reveal deeper questions about self-control, gratitude, worship, shame, and what we ultimately believe will satisfy us. We unpack gluttony as a misuse of God’s good gift of food, examine why we tend to avoid talking about it, and look at the Bible’s positive vision for how we should eat: for God’s glory, with self-control, with gratitude, and without becoming overly picky or entitled. Most importantly, we trace food all the way back to the gospel and the way God uses food and drink throughout Scripture to point us toward Jesus, the Bread of Life and the One who truly satisfies.

What We Learned

• Gluttony is broader than overeating; it can involve deviating from God’s design for our relationship with food.

• We often avoid discussing gluttony because confronting it may require us to change, and because our eating habits can carry significant shame and secrecy.

• Gluttony and drunkenness are connected in Scripture as examples of misusing God’s good gifts through excess.

• We are called to eat and drink for the glory of God rather than for our own beauty, pleasure, vanity, or sense of entitlement.

• Self-control is an important part of a healthy biblical relationship with food, including knowing when to eat, when to stop, and when our motivations for eating or restricting food are misplaced.

• Scripture calls us to receive food with gratitude because everything God created is good and is meant to be received as a gift from Him.

• The Bible also challenges us not to become overly picky about food, cultivating the ability to receive what is set before us with gratitude.

• Food ultimately points beyond itself to Jesus: as we receive God’s good gifts, we can marvel at the One who is the Bread of Life and who satisfies what our souls truly need.

Resources Mentioned

• Our favorite Bible study about food and gluttony: Setting Captives Free (it's free and online!)

• The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis (Check out letter 17)

• Thomas Aquinas on Gluttony

Other episodes where we tackle food issues:

• God at the Center of my Eating Habits

• Health and Wellness: How Seriously Should Christians Take It

• Food and the Christian

Check out this series of articles Kelly wrote about this issue: Food and the Bible 

Scripture Referenced: 

• Proverbs 23:20–21

• Proverbs 25:16

• 1 Corinthians 9:27 

• 1 Corinthians 10:31

• Galatians 5:22-25

• 1 Timothy 4:3–5

• 1 Timothy 5:23

• John 6:11

• Luke 10:8

• John 4:13-14

• John 6:35,48

Produced by Sound of a Rose — https://soundofarose.com