The Evils of Gambling

Show Notes

• The Bible doesn’t come right out and call gambling a sin, but it does contain many verses to guide us about wanting easy money.
• Proverbs 13:11 reads, “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.”
• And 1 Timothy 6:9 warns, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”
• That could certainly describe gambling. It is a snare that often plunges people into destruction. The purpose of Man is to give glory to God. There are many arguments that gambling violates God’s principles.
• When you go to work, you’re part of a production process. Something is created that didn’t exist before - a product or service that has real value.
• How is gambling is harmful to your neighbor? It’s what is known as “zero sum” economics. In order for one person to gain, another must lose. Nothing of value is produced by the act of gambling.
• The argument is often made that gambling has a positive impact on society. Casinos create jobs that benefit the local community. The lottery produces funds that benefit the schools and children.
• But at what cost? Remember, with gambling, no one can win unless someone else loses.
• Gambling has long been labeled an addiction by mental health professionals, and the cost of that addiction is hidden from view.
• A Baylor University study on the negative impact of gambling addiction placed the cost to society of a single pathological gambler at $9,300 a year.
• There is also a spiritual loss for the addicted gambler who craves “just one more win.” In Matthew 6:24, Jesus warns, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
• Researchers have identified a host of ways that gambling harms the individual and society as a whole, including crime, loss of work productivity, bankruptcy, broken families and even suicide.
  

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