Overcoming Gluttony

Obsessing over Things – “…whose god is their stuff…”

Next, we should probably address the desire for excess in relation to stuff. My modified version of Philippians 3:19 says, “…whose god is their stuff.” The wisest man in the world fell in many ways due to this problem. Solomon was given great wisdom as well as wealth and honor by God. Solomon could solve the world’s toughest riddles and yet dug his own grave. The Old Testament says that no one was supposed to multiply horses, chariots, and wives. Solomon did all of these. His appetite for more women and more power could not be satisfied. He obtained many wives for political reasons. He would marry a woman, the daughter of a king, from another country so that he could develop diplomatic relations. He gathered more and more stuff. He even had the joyous ability to build the temple of God. The same man who knew that God could not be held in a temple found himself completely disobeying God’s commands. His foreign wives led him to allow and become a part of idol worship. This led to the downfall of his reign and the split of his kingdom.

A modern day example of someone who indulged himself too much comes from a man named Howard Hughes. “All he ever really wanted in life was more. He wanted more money, so he parlayed inherited wealth into a billion-dollar pile of assets. He wanted more fame, so he broke into the Hollywood scene and soon became a filmmaker and star. He wanted more sensual pleasures, so he paid handsome sums to indulge his every sexual urge. He wanted more thrills, so he designed, built, and piloted the fastest aircraft in the world. He wanted more power, so he secretly dealt political favors so skillfully that two U.S. presidents became his pawns. All he ever wanted was more. He was absolutely convinced that more would bring him true satisfaction. Unfortunately, history shows otherwise. He concluded his life emaciated; colorless; sunken chest; fingernails in grotesque, inches-long corkscrews; rotting, black teeth; tumors; innumerable needle marks from his drug addiction. Howard Hughes died believing the myth of more. He died a billionaire junkie, insane by all reasonable standards.”

As I said an extreme example but one that definitely makes a clear cut understanding of what always wanting more gets you. Most of us will never have the kind of money or power that Solomon or Hughes had but we can still have the attitude. Once we have finally attained a certain level of wealth or a certain something like a big TV or a new car, or a deck, or a new house, whatever it may be, the temptation is to want something more. Many people become buried in debt because they have to have more. Once they almost have that one thing paid off they buy another. If you keep your credit cards maxed out, then you may have a gluttony problem. If you are never satisfied with what you have now, you probably have a gluttony problem. If you ever shop just because there is a sale, you may have a gluttony problem. Shopping for stuff you need that’s on sale is one thing. Shopping just because there is a sale is another. We need to learn to be content with what we have. One word, fasting. Go on a spending fast. Do not buy anything but that which you absolutely need. Buy just enough food. Tithe. Pay your bills and then put the rest of your money into a savings account.