A Short Bible Study on Gluttony

Before doing this short study, please read the one-minute introduction: Do You Say Grace and Then Engage in Gluttony? It discusses the differences between being overweight, obese, bulimic, and anorexic. It also explains a particular Scripture verse that helped me overcome my sin of gluttony.  ~ Gail

Now let's take a look at Scriptures that apply to gluttony.

 

1. We must be careful about things and people that influence us:

 

✔ Proverbs 23:19-21: “Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path: Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”

 

✔ Proverbs 28:7: “A discerning son heeds instruction, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.” 

Drunkards and gluttons may not become poor financially, but they become poor spiritually and physically. This should be a motivation for us to beware of people and influences in our lives that point us toward gluttony. In addition, obesity is not a good witness of our Christian faith.

 

2. Be careful of bad leadership examples: 

 

Among other things, 1 Timothy 3 says a pastor must “be above reproach...temperate, self-controlled, respectable...not given to drunkenness.” Titus 1:5-9 repeats the need for a pastor not to be a drunkard and also says he must be “self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.”

When we've visited churches in a new location, my husband and I have sometimes visited ones where the pastor is clearly obese and sometimes severely obese, and we've never felt comfortable joining those churches. I'm not talking about overweight pastors, but genuinely obese pastors. According to the instructions in Timothy and Titus, such men do not qualify because they are not above reproach, not self-controlled, and not disciplined. A pastor does not need to be perfect, but he cannot continue in an ungodly lifestyle and lead others.

 

If a person is battling with the sin of gluttony, they want to seek help and prayers from leaders who understand the serious nature of their sin, not those who join them in it. 

3. When our stomach is our god:

 

✔ Philippians 3:18-19: “For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”

From GotQuestions: “Their god is their belly: This phrase metaphorically describes individuals who prioritize physical appetites and desires over spiritual devotion. In the Greco-Roman world, indulgence in food and sensual pleasures was common, and this imagery would resonate with Paul's audience. The ‘belly’ symbolizes self-gratification and idolatry of personal desires, echoing Romans 16:18, where Paul warns against those who serve their own appetites. This serves as a caution against allowing physical desires to take precedence over spiritual commitments.” 

 

4. This passage gives important emphasis to the care of our bodies: 

✔ 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”

As Christians, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our bodies, seeking to care for them responsibly. If you are struggling with gluttony, please read some of the passages in this study each day and seek God deliberately and daily.

 

copyright 2026, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com, by Gail Burton Purath

 

 

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Jonathan and David: Kindred Spirits Bible Study

Before doing this Bible study, please read the 1-minute devotion Kindred Spirits-Jonathan and David's Friendship. It explains that both David and Jonathan had a deep respect for God's Word in regard to authority and they had deep faith in God's ability and power.

Let's look at these two qualities: 

1. They had respect for God-given authority.

God promises to bless us when we respect our parents and others in authority even if they don't necessarily “deserve” that respect based on their character. We respect them out of respect for God's commands to do so.

Ephesians 6:2-3: “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 

Read about the life of Jonathan in Scripture, and you'll find that Jonathan disapproved of some of his father's choices and rescued David from being murdered by his father, but he fought loyally alongside his father and died doing so. He showed his father respect but refused to do anything ungodly. 

I encourage you to check out the Bite Size Bible study The Serious Consequences of Dishonoring Parents.

Romans 13:1-2: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

For more on our responsibility to government, see It's the Law.

2. They believed God is able to do anything He wants. 

Both Jonathan and David agreed on this truth and lived it out. See examples in 1 Samuel 14:6 and 1 Samuel 17:45-47.

Jeremiah 32:17: “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”

Mark 10:27: “Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Ephesians 3:20-21: “ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen”

Addressing the claim of Gay Revisionists about David and Jonathan having a homosexual relationship.

It's so sad when gay revisionists take a few innocent details in Scripture to create a false claim that denies the rest of the Bible. These are the passages they use:

1 Samuel 18:1-3: “After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.”

One in spirit is not one in body. Philippians 2:2 says Christians should be“like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” with our fellow believers. And Mark 12:30-31 says,“Love your neighbor as yourself” 

2 Samuel 1:26: “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.”

This statement is not about sex but about loyalty and sacrificial love. Remember that Jonathan protected and favored David as the next king even though Jonathan was legally the heir to the throne. I think this relationship was probably David's best in life. Nothing in Scripture makes us think David enjoyed a special relationship with his family or his wives.  

God gives clear commands against homosexuality, yet when God speaks of David's life, he says he obeyed all of God's commands except in his situation with Bathsheba and Uriah (1 Kings 15:5).

According to commentaries (source):

Summary: “He grieves openly, celebrates the joy Jonathan brought, marvels at love proven through sacrifice, and finds it greater than any earthly affection he had known. The verse calls believers to value faithful, God-honoring friendship and to recognize in it a glimpse of the ultimate covenant love displayed by our Savior.” (underlining mine)

Ellicott's Commentary: “By this strong expression, comparing Jonathan's love for David to that of the faithful wife for her husband, David shows his appreciation of that wonderful affection which had existed between Jonathan and himself under the most untoward circumstances. It was such an affection as could only exist between noble natures and those united in the fear of God. In these last verses of the elegy which relate to Jonathan alone, David has given expression to his own personal sorrow.” (underlining mine)

Pulpit Commentary: “Never was there a purer friendship than that of Jonathan for David. It began just after the combat with Goliath, when the young prince, instead of seeing in David a rival, who had equalled his own feat of valour, took him to his heart, put upon him his own robe and armour, and thus presented him to the army as his friend and brother. Nor did his father's hatred of David, nor the knowledge that David was to inherit the kingdom, interfere with his love. He remained a dutiful son to his father, and accepted his inferior position with magnanimity, without once seeing in David cause for blame; and it surpassed the love of women, because, to requite their devotion, they look for protection and homage, the more delightful because it is paid by the strong to the weak.” (underlining mine)

Why this gay revisionist argument contradicts Scripture in general:

1. Every mention of homosexuality in Old and New Testaments is negative. It is clearly condemned.

2. David is esteemed by God, and God would not esteem someone who unashamedly carried on a homosexual or bisexual lifestyle. God clearly rebuked David for his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah. The only reason David was restored to God and continued to have his favor was because he repented sincerely. And he still paid a heavy price for those sins.

Both Jonathan and David married, had children and lived heterosexual lifestyles. Homosexual or bisexual inferences in these Scriptures are totally manufactured. They are not present in the text, lifestyles, or theme of these men's lives. 

LIES IN DISGUISE: Check out the subject of each chapter, the endorsements, and the important purpose of Lies in Disguise HERE.

© copyright 2015, Gail Burton Purath, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com, edited and updated 2026

When Feelings Bring Loss of Faith

Before doing this study, please read the one-minute introduction: Facts or Feelings: Faith or Failure. 

Genuine faith involves repentance, humility, obedience, and speaking truth in uncomfortable situations. These aspects of faith refresh, restore, and deepen our faith in Christ. 

But they aren't always easy or comfortable. If we based our actions on feelings, we'd never do these things.

An article based on psychological studies showed that people are happier when they deny their wrong doing than when they confess it and repent. See People Who Never Apologize Are Probably Happier Than You.

They may be happier, but they aren't healthier and they aren't sincere Christ-followers.

Repentance is more than mere words:

See The True Meaning of Repentance and 6 Aspects of Godly Forgiveness.

God wants us to feel ashamed of our sins: 

James 4:6-10: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

See Shame Leads to Grace.

God is close to those who genuinely repent: 

Isaiah 57:15: “For this is what the high and exalted One says-- he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Everyday we choose to follow our feelings or follow God:

Joshua 24:14-15: “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua made this statement with the Jews entered the Promised Land. They were being tempted to follow pagan gods. 

What types of gods tempt modern mankind?

What makes serving the Lord undesirable to some people? 

Why do some professing Christians “reconstruct” their faith to make a god in their own image? 

What choice have you and your household made?

copyright, Gail Burton Purath, 2015, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com, edited and updated in 2026