How do you know you’ve committed gluttony?

Ashley755

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I have no idea what exactly that looks like, I hope I’m not doing it. It’s one of those generally unnoticed sins, but a sin no less. Does eating after you already feel full count as gluttony? Do you have to wait until you’re hungry to eat? Is deliberately overeating gluttony, even if you only do it once in a while? I’m confused.
 

Dave-W

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It is not something clearly defined in scripture.

My opinion is when food becomes an idol and you start putting it ahead of following the Lord, you have stepped over into gluttony.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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I have no idea what exactly that looks like, I hope I’m not doing it. It’s one of those generally unnoticed sins, but a sin no less. Does eating after you already feel full count as gluttony? Do you have to wait until you’re hungry to eat? Is deliberately overeating gluttony, even if you only do it once in a while? I’m confused.

Gluttony (overindulging in anything) is pretty common. But it's become a lifestyle in the west. So it's hard to actually define biblically.

Imelda Marcos was said to possess 6000 pairs of shoes, certainly a 'glutton' for such.
 
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eleos1954

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Gluttony (overindulging in anything) is pretty common. But it's become a lifestyle in the west. So it's hard to actually define biblically.

Imelda Marcos was said to possess 6000 pairs of shoes, certainly a 'glutton' for such.

Gluttony (overindulging in anything) is pretty common. Agree, it is just not food related.

God Bless.
 
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timewerx

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I'm not sure but personally, I only eat small amount of food. The reason I do it is because it's healthy.

But certainly, to love God with all our mind, soul, strength, etc. Strength and mind in particular, we need to be physically healthy in order to do that. So perhaps, from theological standpoint, indulgence in food is not a good thing.
 
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2PhiloVoid

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I have no idea what exactly that looks like, I hope I’m not doing it. It’s one of those generally unnoticed sins, but a sin no less. Does eating after you already feel full count as gluttony? Do you have to wait until you’re hungry to eat? Is deliberately overeating gluttony, even if you only do it once in a while? I’m confused.

Gluttony is one of those instances in which a person opens a fresh, brand new bag of Cheetos, pops three or four of those little corn critters in his mouth, and then looks down, only to find the bag completely empty.

I know. It sounds like something out of the Twilight Zone. But, I can honestly testify that I've seen this kind of thing happen, at least a time or two. :sorry:
 
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HTacianas

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I have no idea what exactly that looks like, I hope I’m not doing it. It’s one of those generally unnoticed sins, but a sin no less. Does eating after you already feel full count as gluttony? Do you have to wait until you’re hungry to eat? Is deliberately overeating gluttony, even if you only do it once in a while? I’m confused.

There's a Church near me that has on its website a section on preparing for confession. It addresses gluttony by asking two questions. Do you eat when you are not hungry, and do you ever waste food. I suppose that is a good way to put it.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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Gluttony is one of those instances in which a person opens a fresh, brand new bag of Cheetos, pops three or four of those little corn critters in his mouth, and then looks down, only to find the bag completely empty.

I know. It sounds like something out of the Twilight Zone. But, I can honestly testify that I've seen this kind of thing happen, at least a time or two. :sorry:

I have that same problem with Cool Ranch Doritos.
 
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Brotherly Spirit

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According to Google the definition of gluttony is "habitual greed or excess in eating", and excess is "an amount of something that is more than necessary, permitted, or desirable". Also greed is "intense and selfish desire for something--".

People have different daily circumstances which affect the timing and consumption of food. Some people for example work physically demanding jobs, a larger than normal meal would better prepare them for the work ahead. Even if the person isn't always hungry in the morning, he or she needs to provide the body enough to sustain it's energy and not go hungry until the next meal. If time allows snacking between smaller meals isn't much different overall.

Also what people eat will affect how much and often. If a man or woman consumes healthier food like vegetables and fruit more than normal as a part of their diet, the volume of food could be larger but not necessarily the calories. So I would be careful not to simplify it too much. Only when there's a strong want and lack of self-control I think it's gluttony, deciding to finish what little is left of your meal not to let it waste for example wouldn't be gluttony.
 
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Radagast

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I have no idea what exactly that looks like, I hope I’m not doing it. It’s one of those generally unnoticed sins, but a sin no less. Does eating after you already feel full count as gluttony? Do you have to wait until you’re hungry to eat? Is deliberately overeating gluttony, even if you only do it once in a while? I’m confused.

The sin of gluttony is not about food (or not just about food). Gluttony is about overindulgence in pleasurable sensations of every kind.

Like the sin of lust, gluttony is love of a good thing taken to extremes, so that the pleasurable sensations become more important than God and God's laws (avarice or greed is the third member of the group, where it is things that come ahead of God).

That is to say, gluttony is all about attitude. Does God come first, or do pleasurable sensations come first? Do we pray before we consume? Are we able to say "thank you, but I don't need another slice of pizza," or does the pizza rule over us?

The high end of gluttony involves pleasurable sensations that (unlike food) are actively harmful to the body. The most extreme case would be drug abuse. Here the addict becomes almost totally enslaved to the rule of the drug.
 
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