One of Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony, Overeating,

Clipart from clker.com

Gluttony is a vice. This is a hard statement for overeaters. In the United States there are many all-you-can-eat restaurants and large portion fast food joints. Many people don't acknowledge that gluttony is a sin.

Why is gluttony a sin? There is a correlation between controlling our physical appetites and controlling our minds and our mouth. If we aren't regulating our eating, we may not regulate what we say or what we think. When people tend to overindulge their bodies, they aren't usually concerned with spiritual matters.

"One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons"(Titus 1:12). 

The bible associates overeating with lying, being evil and lazy. We need to get away from these negative habits and character traits.

 "Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags." (Proverbs 23:20-21).

The bible associates this vice with drunkenness, being poor, and sleeping too much. Again, time to repent of this deadly sin. Lust, weakness, and greed are synonyms for gluttony.

Saint Thomas Aquinas said that gluttony is an inordinate desire. That means it is unreasonable. He said it is contrary to virtue.

Physical appetites are a metaphor depicting our self-control or lack of it.

Seven Deadly Sins