Are You Feeding Your Need?

The Bible tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control” (Gal. 5:22, NIV). All these virtues should be displayed
by those in whom the Spirit of God resides. But I’ve observed that
self-control, the last in the list, is often overlooked—much like young
David was when the prophet Samuel told Jesse to assemble his sons so he
could anoint one of them as the new king of Israel (see 1 Sam. 16:1-13).

We’re diligent in our quest to become living examples of
unconditional love, unspeakable joy and peace that passes
understanding. We commit ourselves to serving in our local churches so
that they grow to reflect the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord. We
strive to show patience when we minister to a hurting and sin-sick
world. Even past President George Bush publicly expressed his hope that
America become a kinder and gentler nation.

But what has happened to self-control? Where is the
zealous pursuit, the burning desire, to restrain our flesh and govern
our impulses? How is it that this last-listed fruit is so often
neglected?

The problem is not just a “worldly” one. We see a
disturbing lack of self-control within the body of Christ. It’s
manifested in the sexual sins that plague both the laity and the
leadership of our churches. It’s manifested in the gambling that causes
Christians to spend their time and money (including their tithes) in
local riverboat casinos. It’s mani fested in the smoking, alcoholism
and drug addiction that are ever-present problems within our
congregations.

But the one area in which a lack of self-control has
become most apparent is the area of food. Overeating—the sin of
gluttony—has as its foundation a lack of self-control.

The consequences of gluttony have reached epidemic
proportions in this country among both Christians and non-Christians.
From the 1960s to the 1990s, the cases of obesity nearly doubled.
Current statistics show that 55 percent of adults are overweight.

Some groups, such as African American women, are more
prone to obesity than others. Sixty-six percent of us are overweight
and 37 percent are obese. Along with the rapid rise in these conditions
comes an increasing prevalence of weight-related diseases such as
diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and arthritis, according to a
survey published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Don’t misunderstand me—I am not suggesting that every
person who has a weight problem is a glutton. Obesity is a complicated
disorder with multiple, often interrelated, contributing factors.

Eating is influenced by conditions such as stress,
boredom and depression. For some of us, the problem is simply one of
ignorance—not knowing how to interpret a food label, not knowing how to
prepare foods and not knowing which foods should be eaten in moderation.

For others, a lack of exercise is the major problem. This
is especially true for overweight children who, in this era, tend to
entertain themselves with television, video games and computers rather
than bicycles, jump ropes and relay races.

What I am suggesting is that the sin of gluttony plays a
major role in the obesity epidemic, and it’s time for us to confront
it. We have grown much too comfortable with self-indulgence.

We regularly eat more than our bodies require. We’re
guilty of eating for taste rather than for hunger. And we’ve
conveniently ignored the call for temperance in the supermarket, in the
kitchen and on our plates. As disturbing as it might be, this
acceptance of gluttony shouldn’t come as a surprise in a world that’s
overflowing with super sizes, jumbo servings and all-you-can-eat
buffets.

To make matters worse, we are constantly bombarded with conflicting messages regarding food. This is especially true for women.

Take Cooking Light magazine, for example, which has a
mostly female readership. Cooking Light is devoted to promoting all
aspects of healthy living. It contains dozens of low-calorie recipes,
and each issue has articles devoted to diet, exercise and nutrition.

But as you leaf through the pages of this
health-conscious magazine, you’ll come across numerous ads that promote
unhealthy eating. Baker’s Chocolate encourages you to “Indulge in the
chocolate cookie recipe that’s more chocolate than cookie.” The
American Dairy Association tries to convince you that cheese is a food
with authority in its slogan: “Ahh, the power of cheese.”

And Nabisco tempts you to submit to SnackWell’s cookies:
“Go ahead. Worship the Devil’s Food.” Rather than promoting
self-control, these ads entice us to yield to the cravings of the flesh.

We find ourselves inundated with these mixed messages. On
the one hand, we’re told to watch our diets, cut the fat and eat in
moderation; on the other hand, we’re encouraged to abandon our
constraints and surrender to the sensuous pleasure of eating.

The outcome of this dichotomy is predictable. Because we
are often ruled by our “sinful nature,” which “desires what is contrary
to the Spirit” (see Gal. 5:17), the messages that encourage us to
indulge our flesh take precedence over those that advise restraint, and
we find ourselves doing things we know we shouldn’t. We see the proof
of this in the ever-escalating prevalence of obesity.

Thank God for the Holy Spirit! Though yielding to the
flesh may be the norm for the world, it doesn’t have to be for
Christians. Titus 2:12 tells us that God’s grace “teaches us to say
‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled,
upright and godly lives in this present age.” The world may indulge its
appetite and suffer the consequences of obesity, but the Holy Spirit
gives us the power to say “No” to the tendency toward gluttony.