Bible Verses About Temperance: General references

Beverages were served in an array of goblets of gold, each with a different design, and the royal wine flowed freely, according to the king’s bounty.

By order of the king, no limit was placed on the drinking, and every official of his household was to serve each man whatever he desired.

When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you,

and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.

Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.

If you find honey, eat just what you need, lest you have too much and vomit it up.

But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself.

“Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given only vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Then compare our appearances with those of the young men who are eating the royal food, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”

So he consented to this and tested them for ten days.

And at the end of ten days, they looked healthier and better nourished than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.

So the steward continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and he gave them vegetables instead.

Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.

No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Let your gentleness be apparent to all. The Lord is near.

So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.

For those who sleep, sleep at night; and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation.

An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.

Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued or given to much wine or greedy for money.

As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-absorbed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.

Instead, he must be hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and perseverance.