Gambling
- Part 2 Gambling is “playing a game of chance for stakes” (Webster). It involves the “betting of money or valuables on, and often participation in, games of chance” (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001). Anytime a person wagers money or valuables, for a chance to win something in a game of chance, it’s gambling. Casino games such as slot machines, video poker, roulette wheels, dice games, card games, and numbers games are gambling. Betting on horses, dogs, sporting events, and playing the lottery is gambling. In this article, we briefly explore six sins involved in gambling: covetousness, greed, love of money, unneighborly behavior, lust, and licentiousness. Covetousness Gamblers often covet worldly goods. Many want to acquire worldly possessions for which they have not worked, and often destroy their families, taking food from their children’s mouths for a chance to strike it rich. A covetousness person is immoral, and will not go to heaven (1 Cor. 5:10-11; 6:9-10). Since gambling involves the sin of covetousness, we should not gamble. Greed A greedy person is “excessively desirous of acquiring or possessing, especially wishing to possess more than what one needs or deserves” (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Copyright 2000). People motivated by greed become addicted, because they can never satisfy their desires (cf. Eph. 4:17-19). As Christians we imitate God. We’re not greedy (Eph. 5:1-3; cf. Col. 3:5), and we don’t involve ourselves in addictive behaviors (1 Cor. 6:12). Therefore, we must avoid gambling. Love of Money The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil (1 Tim. 6:10). Gambling, and all the other sins associated with it (hatred, crime, divorce, alcoholism, drug addiction, poverty, homelessness, prostitution, suicide, etc.), is an evil that results from the love of money. Therefore, gambling is a sin. Unneighborly Behavior The gambler “desires the property of his neighbor without any compensation, and thus works ill to him. The dealer in lotteries desires property for which he has never toiled, and which must be obtained at the expense and loss of others” (Barnes). Lust The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life are of the world (1 Jn. 2:16). We are tempted when we are drawn away by our own desires and enticed (Ja. 1:14). Christians must flee lusts, by pursuing righteousness, faith, love, and peace (2 Tim. 2:22; cf. Ja. 4:7-10; 1 Pet. 5:8-9). When people gamble they’re pursuing the sinful desires of the flesh, rather than pursuing the things of God. They are involved in activities resulting from covetousness, greed, the love of money, and hatred, rather than righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Lustful desires are sinful. People who gamble have lustful desires toward money and the sins associated with gambling, especially in the heat of the moment, when fortunes are won and lost in an instant. The lustful desires of gambling are sinful, besides the activity itself. Therefore, gambling is a sin. Licentiousness Sinful, unrestrained desires (licentiousness) to gamble, result in the sin of gambling. Abstain From Every Form of Evil God commands us to abstain from every form of evil (1 Th. 5:22). Since gambling is a form of evil, we must abstain from it. If we don’t, we sin.
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