He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls. – Proverbs 25:28 (KJV)

According to The Wall Street Journal Website, Marketwatch.com:

Spending money that isn’t technically yours, an appetite for extravagance and some bad luck is what largely led the Grammy Award winning R&B singer to bankruptcy court — twice. While Toni Braxton seems to be making a financial comeback, she has had cataclysmic problems with overspending and debt.

In 1998, she filed for bankruptcy due to what she says was lavishly living off the millions of dollars given to her as an advance from her music label. The catch was that she had to refund the record label all related expenses from clothing to travel to music videos and was left with very little in the end. Braxton told ABC News, “What happens is they give you advancement on the next record and then the next record…So you kind of stay in debt, in a sense.” While her worldwide sales totaled $170 million, Braxton said she took home a mere $1,972 from her first recording contract.

Her financial problems didn’t go away. In 2010 Braxton claimed she was $50 million in the red, prompting her to file bankruptcy again. This time she cited a life-threatening medical diagnosis that left her unable to perform and follow through with her self-financed concert series. (One reason to get disability insurance.) In the end, however, she was able to settle her case by paying just $150,000.

Moral of the story? A life built on credit is vulnerable to collapse. And a disability related to medical problems can sometimes be enough to obliterate your financial life if you don’t have sufficient coverage.

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines “gluttony” as “greedy or excessive indulgence.” Although Ms. Braxton’s illness mostly likely had nothing to do with gluttony, her spending-spree induced debt-load certainly did. The Grammy Award winner’s difficult financial situations just go to show that, no matter how much money you earn, you can lose it all by not learning when to say, “Enough is enough!”

Many people struggle with the sin of gluttony. Excessive indulgence can hurt your pocketbook, your health, and your relationships with God and with other people. Whether you spend too much, eat too much, watch too much TV, or do anything “too much,” gluttony – which Proverbs 25:28 defines as “having no rule over your own spirit” – will destroy your strongholds and leave you as vulnerable as a city without defenses.

Learn the discipline of saying “no” to your desires when it is obvious your desires are leading you down a dangerous path. And, learn to obey the Holy Spirit when He tells you, “No!” There will be times when it won’t be obvious to you that your desires are leading you down a dangerous path. However, it will be obvious to the Holy Spirit. When He makes it clear that “enough is enough,” listen and obey. The all-knowing Creator can certainly make better decisions than you or I can. He has all of the facts; we usually don’t.