The Seven Deadly Sins and Your Marriage - Day 8
GLUTTONY
What comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘gluttony’? The dictionary defines it as ‘habitual overeating’. That definition leads us to focusing on the outward appearance: gluttony = fat person. That certainly is a part of gluttony and is the image that can easily come into out minds when we hear the word but let’s also look at it this way. Gluttony is a heart issue. That takes the emphasis off of the physical appearance and lays it before God.
The word gluttony is derived from the Latin word gluttire. It means to gulp down or swallow. It means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, intoxicants, or wealth to the point of waste. Gluttony takes our focus off of God and onto some of the excesses of life.
How then does gluttony affect a marriage? If our pursuit is pleasure at the expense of everything else and this pleasure of food, drink, or money is consistently excessive, we have achieved gluttony. If one person in a marriage is the pursuer of these things, the marriage will suffer. The excesses and the desire for them will dominate that persons life at the expense of everything else. If both the husband and the wife are pursuing, then their fulfillment is based on the overindulgence of food, drink, or wealth. The marriage is put aside for the gluttonous pursuits.
Gluttony destroys. It destroys people and it destroys marriages. It is a selfish pursuit and no one comes out the winner.
Are there gluttonous things in your life? In your marriage? Is it time to address them?