At its base, gluttony is nothing more than a lack of self-control. But there is also a more spiritual side to this prevalent sin.

English-speakers do not use 'concupiscence' much these days, and when they do, it has a sexual connotation. Its scriptural meaning is far broader.

It is impossible to cultivate self-control unless one uses God's Spirit to reprogram the desires of the heart from self-centeredness to submission to God.

Self-control is the ability to focus our attention so that our decisions will not be directed by wrong thoughts. If we change our thoughts, we change our behavior.

A lack of self-control, as well as the cultivation of self-indulgent perversions, will characterize large segments of our society living at the end times.

Covetousness is an insatiable desire for worldly gain and lies at the heart of where most sin originates. The tenth emphasizes man's relationship to man.

The tenth commandment confirms that God has not just forbidden external acts but that His aim is to curtail the sinful attitudes that motivate the acts.

We all have hungers, from a desire for certain foods to a yearning for success. Jesus teaches that we are blessed when we hunger for righteousness.

Proverbs 25:16 stresses that moderation is the best policy. Of all the fruits of God's Holy Spirit, self-control is the most difficult to attain.

Because virtually every sin begins as a desire in the mind, the command against coveting (lustful cravings) could be the key to keeping the other commandments.

Everyone is out to acquire as much as possible for himself. The tenth commandment, however, governs this proclivity of human nature, striking at man's heart.

America has grown fat, and the sin of gluttony plays a part in it. Obesity is dangerous physically, but it also has a spiritual side.

Coveting—lust—is a fountainhead of many other sins. Desiring things is not wrong, but desiring someone else's things promotes overtly sinful behavior.

Most people consider the second commandment to deal with making or falling down before a pagan idol, but it covers all aspects of the way we worship.

Is a Christian denied a pleasurable life? Are we relegated to lives of drab monotony and duty? On the contrary, we are created to experience pleasure.

Lust begets a guilty conscience, agitation, anxiety, depression, grief, torment. Wrong desire leads to lying, adultery, and murder—eventually leading to death.

Jesus taught that all outward sin stems from inner inordinate desire. What we desire or lust after automatically becomes our idol.

For His Own reasons, God has chosen not to reveal His plan to those the world considers wise, but, instead, to work with the weaker sort of mankind.

What does Scripture say about free-moral agency? Are we human puppets on a string, manipulated from above? How does free will relate to God's sovereignty?

Protestant theology recognizes that Christian self-discipline presents a major logical difficulty in its keystone doctrine of 'by grace alone.'

Idolatry derives from worshiping the work of our hands or thoughts rather than the true God. Whatever consumes our thoughts and behavior has become our idol.