Gluttony is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink or wealth items. There’s a bigger idea at play here. There’s a desire for more, not unlike greed, that cannot be quench. The sin of gluttony has variations. But, the point is, food is a god for you. Small “g”.

Maybe you don’t eat enough, maybe you eat too much, or maybe you don’t eat the right food for you to be healthy. With the disengaged dad, his kids see an unhealthy relationship with food.

It’s tough to talk about, but another way it rears its ugly head is in our weight. Again, beyond allergies and medications or other medical conditions, if your weight is obese or morbidly obese, this is your sign that the sin of gluttony is present. No one told me this for years. I had to learn it from my doctor.

In 2013, God convicted me of the sin of gluttony. He used a Christian doctor named Augustine. You want your doctor’s name to be Augustine, just sayin. Anyway, he tells me, “Hey, you’re young. You’re also 60 pounds overweight. You want to be around for your wife and kids? You need to lose 50 pounds, like yesterday.” I was 230+ and should be 170. The doctor’s words stopped me in my tracks. First, I was embarrassed. But, the truth hurt in a good way. Since that day, I’ve lost a lot of weight. More importantly, through the ebbs and flows, I’ve learned from experience how to live more healthy. 

As Christians, I think it’s important that we consider our eating habits. We are an example to our kids—whether we want to be or not. Gluttony tends to be a “respectable sin” and it shouldn’t be. It’s not all that different from lust. So, let’s learn to eliminate it.