Conquering the Spiritual Passion of Gluttony | Ep. 96
Season 5, Part 5 Show Notes of The Raised & Redeemed Podcast
Do you reach for food when you’re stressed? Get hangry? Or maybe just eat when you’re bored?
You may tell yourself it's harmless—coping with food doesn’t seem as dangerous as drugs or fornication–yet even still, it blinds us to the things of God, weakens our will, and opens us up to demons of lust and depression.
Gluttony isn’t just about how much we eat–it’s about why we eat, and the spiritual void we’re truly trying to fill.
So, let’s get to the bottom of it, and perhaps, learn some healthier coping mechanisms.
About This Series
This season, we're walking through Thirty Steps to Heaven by Fr. Vassilios Papavassiliou, a practical guide to spiritual warfare and growth based on The Ladder of Divine Ascent by St. John Climacus. Each week, we examine a new step of the Ladder, confronting the passions that bind us and discovering the virtues that set us free.
Last week, we conquered spiritual sloth through hope and faithful endurance. Today, we tackle Step 14: Gluttony—and discover how the ancient discipline of fasting can transform our hearts, our bodies, and our relationship with God.
Understanding Gluttony
Gluttony is often reduced to simple overeating, and while that's certainly part of it (considering 43% of people worldwide are overweight), it goes much deeper.
It's when our desire for comfort—through food or bodily pleasure—starts to control us. It's when we run to our plates instead of to prayer, to a snack instead of surrender.
St. John Climacus describes gluttony as "Hypocrisy of the stomach. Filled, it moans about scarcity; stuffed and crammed, it wails about its hunger. Stop up one urge and another bursts out."
Sound familiar? You eat something savory, then crave something sweet. You satisfy that craving, then want something salty. It's the endless cycle of never enough.
Three Forms of Gluttony
1. Overconsumption - This is obvious. Eating past fullness, eating to numb emotions, eating as entertainment.
It’s worth noting that gluttony includes food and drink:
We see in Scripture that alcohol in moderation can be a good thing, but overconsumption of it is advised against in the Christian life.
Ecclesiastes 9:7 says "Go and eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved of what you do."
And yet Ephesians 5:18 says, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,
The key here once again being moderation.
2. Obsessive Particularity
Only eating the choicest foods, demanding everything prepared exactly your way, being prideful about your food choices.
3. Mental Preoccupation
Living to eat rather than eating to live. Even during fasts, fantasizing about your next meal instead of focusing on God.
The Spiritual Reality Behind Our Appetites
Here's what the Church Fathers understood: when we've lost control over our stomachs, we've often lost control over our bodies more broadly. This passion opens the door to others—especially lust. Both are about choosing physical pleasure over spiritual discipline.
When we constantly give in to every craving, we train ourselves to expect immediate gratification. Over time, this dulls our resilience and makes it harder to say no—not just to food, but to any temptation.
What Scripture Says
Proverbs 23:20-21 warns us not to be "among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty."
Philippians 3:19 describes those whose "god is their belly" with "minds set on earthly things."
Galatians 5:23 offers hope: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
God created food and called it good. He gave us hunger so we would eat and nourish our bodies. But in overabundance and without self-control, we’re no longer enjoying it if we’re honest. Rather, we have become enslaved to it.
This can lead to lethargy, sleepiness, and a heaviness in body and soul that hasn’t yet learned to surrender short term gratification for long term fulfillment.
So we must ask ourselves: Are we eating for strength or for comfort? To nourish our bodies or to fill the void only God can fill?
My Personal Battle with Gluttony
[Michaela shares her vulnerable testimony about overcoming substance abuse and how food became her next coping mechanism, her experience with her first Great Lent, and the moment during Holy Week when she realized she was too full to focus on worship.]
The goal isn't to follow rules for rules' sake. The goal is to not be so full of the wrong things that we can't receive the right One.
The Ancient Remedy: Fasting
So how do we overcome this consuming passion? Through the ancient discipline of fasting.
Interestingly, fasting was one of the first commands God gave Adam and Eve in the garden: "You shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:17). Their failure to fast led to the Fall.
As St. Basil the Great points out: "It is because we did not fast that we were banished from paradise. So let us fast that we may return to it."
How Fasting Helps Us Spiritually
Fasting Helps Us in Spiritual Battle
Jesus fasted for 40 days before facing temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-4). When the disciples couldn't cast out a demon, Jesus told them: "This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21).
Fasting Humbles Us and Draws Us to God
When King Jehoshaphat faced enemies, he "proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah" and sought the Lord's deliverance (2 Chronicles 20).
Fasting Enables True Repentance
"Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning" (Joel 2:12).
Fasting helps us grow in the virtue of temperance and the fruit of the spirit, self control, so we can withstand the enemy of our souls.
Galatians 5:17 says, “For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.”
1 Peter 4:7, “The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers.”
1 Peter 5:8 says, “Discipline yourselves, keep alert.d Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.”
What Fasting Is NOT vs. What It IS
Fasting is NOT:
Following rules for rules' sake
Punishing yourself
Earning God's favor
Fasting IS:
Creating space for God to fill
Training your will to choose spirit over flesh
Remembering your soul's true hunger for Christ
As 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 reminds us: "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit... you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body."
6 Practical Steps to Overcome Gluttony This Week
Start Where You Are
Maybe it's giving up desserts one day a week, following the Church's Wednesday/Friday fasting guidelines, or saying no to that second helping when you're already satisfied.Practice the Pause
Before reaching for food, ask: "Am I physically hungry, or am I trying to fill an emotional need?" If it's emotional, pray first.Embrace Simplicity
If you're overly particular about food, practice eating what's served without complaint. This breaks pride and builds humility.Fast with Intention
Choose one comfort food and fast from it for one week. Use those moments of craving as reminders to pray.Journal Your Cravings
What emotions arise when you deny yourself? Invite God into those moments.Fill the Space Properly
When you create empty space through fasting, fill it with Scripture, prayer, service to others, and fellowship with believers.Manual Labor
Get your body moving. We’re less likely to overeat when living an active lifestyle.
Generosity
Give with the excess you now have from refraining from over-indulgence.
Remember Paul's words: "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any" (1 Corinthians 6:12). Freedom isn't the ability to indulge every desire—it's the power to choose what truly serves your soul.
Final Encouragement
St. John Climacus promises that "fasting ends lust, roots out bad thoughts, makes for purity of prayer, an enlightened soul, a watchful mind."
Don't be discouraged if you've struggled. Gluttony is a hard battle because it's tied to survival and comfort. But you're not alone. Every saint battled the flesh—and overcame it by grace.
You were made for more than momentary satisfaction. You were made to feast on glory, to hunger for righteousness, to be filled with the fullness of God.
So deny the lesser and press into the greater. Let your cravings become cues to pray. Let your hunger lead you home.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help us to hunger for You more than anything else. Teach us to fast, not for discipline alone, but to be filled with Your Spirit. Deliver us from the idols of comfort, and train our hearts to long for heaven. Amen.
Episode Resources
Book Referenced: Thirty Steps to Heaven by Fr. Vassilios Papavassiliou
Primary Text: The Ladder of Divine Ascent by St. John Climacus
Coming Up Next
Next Week: Step 15 - How to Overcome Lust with Chastity and Purity
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"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." - Matthew 5:6
