Bible Texts:
Moderation:
Philippians 4:5 KJV
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Self-Indulgence:
Luke 12:44-46 NLT
44 I tell you The Truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns.
45 But what if the servant thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk?
46 The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant in pieces and banish him with the unfaithful.
The Word; Moderation:
Proverbs 4:8 KJV
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Proverbs 11:4,5 NLT
4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, to guzzle wine. Rulers should not crave alcohol.
5 For if they drink, they may forget The Law and not give justice to the oppressed.
Proverbs 16:32 KJV
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
Proverbs 20:1 KJV
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Proverbs 21:17 KJV
He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.
Proverbs 22:6 KJV
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 23:20,21,29-35 NLT
20 Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons,
21 for they are on their way to poverty, and too much sleep clothes them in rags.
29 Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks.
31 Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.
32 For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper.
33 You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things.
34 You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast.
35 And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?”
Proverbs 25:28 NLT
A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.
Isaiah 5:11,22 NLT
11 What sorrow for those who get up early in the morning looking for a drink of alcohol and spend long evenings drinking wine to make themselves flaming drunk.
22 What sorrow for those who are heroes at drinking wine and boast about all the alcohol they can hold.
Romans 12:1,2 KJV
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 13:13 NLT
Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy.
I Corinthians 5:11 NLT
I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.
I Corinthians 6:9,10,12,19,20 NLT
9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality,
10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
12 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything.
19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of The Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,
20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
I Corinthians 9:25 NLT
All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.
I Corinthians 10:31 KJV
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Galatians 2:20 KJV
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of The Son Of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 5:13,17,22,23 NLT
13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what The Spirit wants. And The Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
22 But The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Ephesians 5:19-21 NLT
19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Philippians 3:18,19 KJV
18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
Colossians 3:5,23 NLT
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for The Lord rather than for people.
I Timothy 6:10 KJV
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
II Timothy 1:7 KJV
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
II Timothy 3:1-5 KJV
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Titus 1:8 KJV
But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
Titus 2:6,7,11,12 KJV
6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and Godly, in this present world;
I Peter 5:8 KJV
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
II Peter 1:5,6 NLT
5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,
6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with Godliness,
The Word: Self-Indulgence:
Proverbs 18:1 NLT
Unfriendly people care only about themselves; they lash out at common sense.
Proverbs 21:17 KJV
He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.
Proverbs 23:4,20,21 NLT
4 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit.
20 Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons,
21 for they are on their way to poverty, and too much sleep clothes them in rags.
Isaiah 22:12,13 NLT
12 At that time The Lord, The Lord Of Heaven’s Armies, called you to weep and mourn. He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins and to wear clothes of burlap to show your remorse.
13 But instead, you dance and play; you slaughter cattle and kill sheep. You feast on meat and drink wine. You say, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
Matthew 23:25 KJV
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Luke 12:18-21 KJV
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Luke 15:13-16 NLT
13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.
14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.
15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.
16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
Romans 1:26-31 NLT
26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.
27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, He abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.
29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.
31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.
Romans 2:8 NLT
But He will pour out His anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey The Truth and instead live lives of wickedness.
Romans 8:5 KJV
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after The Spirit the things of The Spirit.
Romans 12:2 KJV
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 13:14 KJV
But put ye on The Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Romans 16:18 KJV
For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
I Corinthians 9:25-27 NLT
25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.
26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.
27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
II Corinthians 12:21 NLT
Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence. And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins. You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure.
Galatians 5:13,16,19-21,24 KJV
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
16 This I say then, Walk in The Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Ephesians 2:3 NLT
All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
Ephesians 4:18,19 NLT
18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him.
19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
Philippians 3:19 NLT
They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.
Colossians 3:5 NLT
So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
I Thessalonians 4:3-5 NLT
3 God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.
4 Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor—
5 not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and His ways.
II Timothy 3:1-4 KJV
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Titus 2:11,12 KJV
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and Godly, in this present world;
Titus 3:3 NLT
Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other.
James 1:14 KJV
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
James 3:14-16 KJV
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against The Truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
James 4:1-3 KJV
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
James 5:1-5 NLT
1 Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.
2 Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment.
4 For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of The Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
5 You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.
I Peter 1:14 NLT
So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
I Peter 2:11 KJV
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
II Peter 1:6 NLT
6 And knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with Godliness,
II Peter 2:`14,18,19 NLT
14 They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse.
18 They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.
19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.
I John 2:16,17 KJV
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of The Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Prayer:
Galatians 6:7 KJV
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
