Moderation by Frances M McCrory-Meservy

1 Cor 9:25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.

Temperate: marked by moderation: as a : keeping or held within limits : not extreme or excessive : mild b : moderate in indulgence of appetite or desire c : moderate in the use of alcoholic beverages d : marked by an absence or avoidance of extravagance, violence, or extreme partisanship

1. Food: we know that gluttony is one of the "deadly" sins.

If we ate small servings of everything, we would not be overweight, diabetic, have knee, feet and ankle problems and would be healthier. Moderation would keep us feeling better.

2. Money: we know that greed brought on my the love of money is another of the "deadly" sins.

If we work and earn enough to pay for shelter, food, clothing and have a little left over so we can share with others, we are doing well and are able to live in moderation.

3. Home: when we deprived because we do not have everything that the people around us have, we covet and that's one more "deadly" sin.

In a world like we have here in the US, it is hard not to have too much. Temptation is everywhere we go and look. We don't realize we are keeping up with the society because it's the norm in the USA.

If we have a place to live (in the 1700s the house was 10" X 10" for a couple and they added an 8' X 8' room each time a room got too small for the children to fit in it to sleep. 

In most places in the rest of the world it is common to find 3 or 4 generations living in a small apartment.  If one of the children falls in love and wants to marry, they have to wait until someone dies in order to get married.  There is no land they can just purchase and build a house on. 

We build or purchase a house as large as we can afford and then fill it with stuff we do not need. 

Mat 7:13-14 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.