Though the Bible never uses the modern term obesity, it talks about gluttony, overeating, lack of self-control, and body stewardship with unmistakable clarity. God’s word tells us repeatedly to keep our appetite in moderation, discipline, and reverence as his temple from Genesis to Revelation. In the Bible, gluttony isn’t just a minor vice; it’s paired with drunkenness, greed, rebellion, and idolatry.
There are strong words in the Old Testament condemning gluttony. The Hebrew word for glutton, zalal, means wasteful excess, reckless indulgence, and moral looseness. Proverbs 23:20 to 21 warn, “Don’t be among drunkards or gluttons of meat. They’ll get poor, and slumber will clothe them in rags.
Even good gifts from God require restraint, according to Proverbs 25:16, “If you find honey, eat only enough for yourself, lest you get over it and vomit it.” In Proverbs 28:7, it says, “Whoever keeps the law is a wise son, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.” Gluttony hurts family and community.
When extreme gluttony goes along with rebellion, the Mosaic Law makes it a capital offense. In Deuteronomy 21:18 to 21, the stubborn and rebellious son refuses to obey his father and mother, and even when disciplined, he’s a glutton and a drunkard. The parents bring him before the elders, and the men of the city stone him to death. Although rarely enforced, the statute reveals how seriously Israel regarded habitual intemperance.
A theme that’s repeated throughout the prophets. Isaiah 22:13 rebukes Jerusalem with the words, “Behold, joy and gladness, killing oxens and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Sensual indulgence in the face of judgment proves spiritual blindness.
The sin of Sodom is listed in Ezekiel 16:49: “Behold, she and her daughters had pride, excess food, and prosperous ease, but did not help the poor.” Excess food is the first sin listed.
Because believers now have the Holy Spirit indwelling them, the condemnation gets sharper in the New Testament. Though He was falsely accused of being a glutton and a drunkard, as well as a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34), Jesus lived in perfect self-control without forbidding food or feasting. The accusation reveals that first-century Jews considered gluttony a grave moral failing worthy of public slander.
Glutiny is among the works of the flesh in Paul’s letters. In Philippians 3:18 to 19, he weeps over false teachers and says, “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” When appetite rules the heart, the stomach becomes a false god. According to Romans 13:14, you shouldn’t gratify the flesh’s desires. Romans 16:18 says deceivers serve their own belly, not the Lord.
Corinthian libertinism is confronted in First Corinthians 6: 12 to 13: “I’m lawful with everything, but I’m not helpful with everything. It’s lawful for me, but I won’t let anything dominate me.” Paul refuses to let even a lawful pleasure master him. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy both.” He writes later in the same chapter, “Do you not realize you’re a temple of the Holy Spirit inside you?
“You are not your own, because you were bought with a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Chronic overeating damages health and disrespects Christ’s blood-bought ownership.
The pastoral epistles link gluttony with false teaching and disqualification from leadership. Titus 1:12 quotes a Cretan prophet: “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” The parallel structure often includes avoidance of gluttony in ancient lists of virtues. Paul tells Timothy not to be a drunkard or greedy for gain. For the stomach’s sake, First Timothy 5:23 allows a little wine, showing that total abstinence isn’t necessary, but excess is.
Gluttony is opposed to the fruit of the Spirit. In Galatians 5:22-23, self-control (egkrateia) is mentioned as evidence of the Spirit’s presence. Where appetite wins, the Spirit doesn’t. According to Peter, believers should “abstain from fleshly passions, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). Uncontrolled eating is one of those passions.
This teaching was unanimously continued by church fathers. Basil the Great called gluttony “the first sin that assaults us.” John Cassian called gluttony the primary vice that opens the door to all others. Clement of Alexandria said, “The belly shouldn’t be filled to bursting; gluttony is the mother of lust.” Fasting was hard for Augustine because his appetite fought back like a slave-driver.
According to Thomas Aquinas, gluttony is one of the seven capital sins because of the five ways it offends: eating too soon, too expensively, too much, too eagerly, and too daintily.
In Scripture, fat people don’t get condemned. Some faithful figures were heavy. Eli the priest was heavy (1 Samuel 4:18), but the text doesn’t give him a moral judgment. The narrative condemns the tyranny of Eglon king of Moab, not his weight. Body size isn’t the sin, but habitual lack of restraint, idolatry of food, neglecting your body as God’s temple, and not exercising self-control.
Believers fast regularly in the Bible: Moses, David, Esther, Daniel, Anna, Jesus, Paul, and early Christians all fasted as spiritual discipline. Fasting trains your appetite to serve your soul instead of ruling it. Jesus assumed His disciples would fast after His ascension (Matthew 9:15).
In summary, every major section of Scripture condemns gluttony. The Law threatens death for the rebellious glutton. Wisdom literature mocks and warns him. Prophets list excess of food as one of the worst national sins. Jesus faces the accusation but lives in perfect moderation. Christians should glorify God with their bodies. Paul calls belly-worshipers enemies of the cross. In the early church, gluttony was treated as a grave vice that warped holiness and the fruit of the Spirit.
Christian’s can’t just ignore overeating and think it’s a harmless personality trait or genetic inevitability. When indulgence becomes habitual, when food masters the heart, when health is knowingly sacrificed to appetite, Scripture calls it sin, names it gluttony, and calls the believer to repentance, fasting, prayer, and Spirit-enabled discipline that only brings freedom. We don’t want to enslave our body again to any desire, even food.
Let’s stop telling morbidly obese people that they are perfect just the way they are. Fat shaming with sensitivity is possible, and can help people. But don’t keep bringing it up, because then you’re going to harm any progress they have made.
Until Next Time Courage and Be Blessed.
