“For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly . . . whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things” Romans 16:18; Philippians 3:19 NKJV 

The first of the Ten Commandments that God gave was that “you shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). To have any god before the true and Living God is idolatry. Some serve their appetites more than God. Their god is their belly. They profess God, but they are driven by the lust for food to gratify their bodily appetite (1 John 2:16).

It all began in the Garden of Eden: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked” (Gen. 3:6-7). The serpent got Eve to eat; Eve got Adam to eat, and every since man ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, he made food an idol and his belly has been his god. When you can’t say no to your gut—that’s the worst kind of idolatry.

While it is true that you are free, in Christ, to eat whatever you want. Liberty in Christ does not mean freedom to be selfish or elf-indulgent, but rather, taking the opportunity to serve God and others and being the best you can be (Gal. 5:13). The apostle Paul reiterated this truth in his first letter to Timothy when he said that, “every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:4-5).Thanksgiving and sanctification shouldn’t be a justification to satisfy your own lustful appetites—often eating food bad for your health.  You are what you eat!

According to Christian tradition, gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins along with lust, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. These sins and transgressions are fatal to your spiritual growth.  Lustful appetites can very well be a food addiction, and a food addiction is an idol.  Anything you can’t stop eating too much of becomes an idol. Remember, an idol is a god who can’t hear your prayers. One of the strongest food idols are food with a excessive amount of carbohydrates, i.e., sugar, starch, fiber that produces insulin in the body; if it isn’t burned off, it turns into fat and even causes the pancreas to over-produce additional insulin; thus, causing Type-2 diabetes. I have also been told that, carbohydrates can be so addictive that they can affect your insulin levels more than cocaine and heroin. Selah!

How do you know that you’re serving a food idol? It is manifested in the way that you act when you can’t have that particular food. Whatever feeds your addiction rules you (See Prov. 23:1-2; Eccles. 6:7; Matt. 4:4; Rom. 14:17; Rom. 8:13). Eat to live—not live to eat. Never allow food to make you a servant. You cannot be the master when a servant (food) is running your life!