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The decision to indulge fleshly appetites for pleasure leads to sin against God and destroys and damns the soul.  This is every person’s battle.  It is the inward war!  The lusts of the flesh war against the soul (I Peter 2:11).  This battle is acute at this time in our culture.
Self-Indulgence Defined
Self-indulgence is the unrestrained gratification of one’s own fleshly appetites including desires, passions, and whims.  Whenever these fleshly appetites violate God’s law, they are sinful and put the human soul in peril.  These appetites can become chords which bind us to satan especially when habitually practiced.  They can corrupt the mind, heart, and will.  They put the will of man in direct conflict with the will of God.  They exhaust the energy needed to serve God and others.  We are so preoccupied with our own lusts that there is no time or energy or money left to serve God and others.  We are spent.  We are spent on self-indulgence and self-gratification.
Synonyms of Self-Indulgence
In order to further define the concept of self-indulgence, an examination of synonyms will aid us.  One synonym is hedonism.  Hedonism is succinctly summarized by Paul in II Tim. 3:4 by the phrase, “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.”  God should be and must be our “first love” (Matthew 22:36-39).  Whenever we supplant God with sinful pleasure, we have made a god out of sinful pleasure.  This is one of the false philosophies that Paul warns us about in Col. 2:8.  Paul writes, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”  A second synonym is covetousness.  Covetousness is the insatiable appetite for more and more.  Covetousness is a lust of the flesh that focuses on material things and so defines materialism which is another false philosophy that can take us captive.  A third synonym is egotism.  Egotism is living life in a self-centered way.  It feeds on selfishness and violates the law to “love our neighbor as ourselves” and “love one another.”  Yet, another synonym is indolence.  Indolence is stubbornness.  Stubbornness manifests itself in the pursuit of wrong even if it is detrimental to our own good.  Another synonym is frivolity.  Frivolity is a lack of sober-mindedness.  Everything becomes of joke to those who do not take life seriously.  This produces an appetite for risky behaviors that puts our soul in harms way.  Still another synonym is entitlement.  Entitlement is the attitude that the world owes me everything and at the same time I owe others nothing. The last synonym is childishness.  Childishness is self-centered immaturity.  It is the inability to handle the challenges of this world with good emotion.
Antonyms of Self-Indulgence
Sometimes when we are defining a term, it is helpful to consider what the opposite of what term is.  An antonym of self-indulgence is self-restraint.  Self-restraint is the ability to control one’s self.  It is self-mastery.  Paul writes, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (I Cor. 9:27).  There were times whenever Paul had to say “no” to himself for his own spiritual benefit.  Another synonym is discipline.  Discipline is training in righteousness that is both positive through truth and negative through reproof, rebuke, and correction.  Both of these previous words relate to another antonym of self-indulgence which is self-control.  Temperance is self-control and it is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).  The contrast between the flesh and the Spirit is easily seen in the difference between self-indulgence and self-control.  A lack of self-control will lead to overspending, drug abuse, risky behaviors involving sexual sin, and even procrastination.  This virtue identifies with Christianity and is needed for a well-ordered society.  Often we want the benefits of Christianity without the responsibility of Christian living.
The Remedy for Self-Indulgence. 
True religion eliminates self-indulgence. Jesus came to save sinners from themselves (the lusts of the flesh).  True religion is a hard sell in today’s American culture.  People want cheap grace, ease and convenience, and the promises of God without obedience to the precepts of God.  The first step in solving the problem of self-indulgence is self-denial.  Jesus said, “…if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).  Self-denial is an essential step in preserving the value of the human soul in relationship with God (Matthew 16:25-27).  Jesus is the hope of the world because He is the savior of the world (John 4:42; I John 4:14).