A Woman's Wisdom: How the Book of Proverbs Speaks to Everything by Lydia Brownback
Authors: Lydia Brownback
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eating disorder anorexia also fall into the glutton category. Anyone who has ever misused food as a way to cope with stress, alleviate boredom, or escape loneliness knows the truth of this proverb:
One who is full loathes honey,
but to one who is hungry, everything is sweet.
(Prov. 27:7).
In America today, eating, for many, is all about pleasure, but in many places around the globe, food is still more about basic survival. Eating disorders and other outworkings of gluttony aren’t prevalent in underdeveloped countries, but the abundance of food in the West has made it an easy avenue for the outworking of our sin. We take food for granted and misuse it rather than eating for the purpose of glorifying God with good health and with thankfulness for his bounty. Proverbs gives us a rule of thumb for eating biblically:
It is not good to eat much honey,
nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory. (Prov. 25:27)
In other words, eating in moderation is good. It enables us not only to glorify God but also to enjoy our bounty of food as God intended.
what exactly is self-control?
How would you define self-control? The first thing we might say is that self-control is something difficult. We know this from personal experience. We might define it this way: self-control is getting—and maintaining—a grip on ourselves, which includes a grip on our emotions, our speech, and all our physical appetites. Wise women recognize that mastering the art of self-control comes from submitting to God’s control in every area of life. To be self-controlled, therefore, is actually to be controlled by God.
Self-control is also something we all need , and Proverbs tells us why:
A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and left without walls.
(Prov. 25:28)
Ancient cities were surrounded by impregnable walls. These walls served as the front lines of defense against would-be attackers. We read in the book of Joshua that the Israelites were not able to get inside the city of Jericho until God miraculously caused the walls of the city to come tumbling down (Josh. 6:15–20). Understanding this aspect of ancient cities enables us to grasp the metaphor in the proverb. Without the walls of self-control, we have little defense against our enemies, which consist of anything that weakens or diminishes our ability to obey God and glorify him with our lives.
Paul teaches us something about self-control in his letter to the Galatians. In chapter 5 of that letter he makes a contrast between being led by our natural desires and being led by the Holy Spirit. He indicates the contrast by providing us with two lists. The first is a list of things, “works of the flesh,” that spring from our fallen nature, and the second is a list of traits, the “fruit of the Spirit,” that will be manifested in us as we are progressively mastered by Christ. The works of the flesh aren’t hard to pinpoint, as he says:
The works of the flesh are evident : sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:19–21)
In other words, certain habits and behaviors are shown to be sin by the negative fruit they produce, the ultimate outcome of which is separation from God and his kingdom. Every item on that list is an outworking of sin. Each has a controlling, addictive quality that, if left unchecked, will eventually take over and master a life.
Elsewhere Paul provides us with a spiritual perspective on this downward spiral. Using sexual perversion as an example, he gives us insight into the heart-working of those who are enslaved by what today we call “addiction”:
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping
One who is full loathes honey,
but to one who is hungry, everything is sweet.
(Prov. 27:7).
In America today, eating, for many, is all about pleasure, but in many places around the globe, food is still more about basic survival. Eating disorders and other outworkings of gluttony aren’t prevalent in underdeveloped countries, but the abundance of food in the West has made it an easy avenue for the outworking of our sin. We take food for granted and misuse it rather than eating for the purpose of glorifying God with good health and with thankfulness for his bounty. Proverbs gives us a rule of thumb for eating biblically:
It is not good to eat much honey,
nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory. (Prov. 25:27)
In other words, eating in moderation is good. It enables us not only to glorify God but also to enjoy our bounty of food as God intended.
what exactly is self-control?
How would you define self-control? The first thing we might say is that self-control is something difficult. We know this from personal experience. We might define it this way: self-control is getting—and maintaining—a grip on ourselves, which includes a grip on our emotions, our speech, and all our physical appetites. Wise women recognize that mastering the art of self-control comes from submitting to God’s control in every area of life. To be self-controlled, therefore, is actually to be controlled by God.
Self-control is also something we all need , and Proverbs tells us why:
A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and left without walls.
(Prov. 25:28)
Ancient cities were surrounded by impregnable walls. These walls served as the front lines of defense against would-be attackers. We read in the book of Joshua that the Israelites were not able to get inside the city of Jericho until God miraculously caused the walls of the city to come tumbling down (Josh. 6:15–20). Understanding this aspect of ancient cities enables us to grasp the metaphor in the proverb. Without the walls of self-control, we have little defense against our enemies, which consist of anything that weakens or diminishes our ability to obey God and glorify him with our lives.
Paul teaches us something about self-control in his letter to the Galatians. In chapter 5 of that letter he makes a contrast between being led by our natural desires and being led by the Holy Spirit. He indicates the contrast by providing us with two lists. The first is a list of things, “works of the flesh,” that spring from our fallen nature, and the second is a list of traits, the “fruit of the Spirit,” that will be manifested in us as we are progressively mastered by Christ. The works of the flesh aren’t hard to pinpoint, as he says:
The works of the flesh are evident : sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:19–21)
In other words, certain habits and behaviors are shown to be sin by the negative fruit they produce, the ultimate outcome of which is separation from God and his kingdom. Every item on that list is an outworking of sin. Each has a controlling, addictive quality that, if left unchecked, will eventually take over and master a life.
Elsewhere Paul provides us with a spiritual perspective on this downward spiral. Using sexual perversion as an example, he gives us insight into the heart-working of those who are enslaved by what today we call “addiction”:
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping
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