Gambling a Sin?

Gambling a Sin

Gambling is not a sin. With that said it has many moral issues associated with it. Let’s look at some of these issues. This is an interesting topic in the body of Christ and if you will take the time to Google it you will see there are many different views. I am going to follow where the Holy Spirit leads me in this topic. I ask that you do the same.

Money management is clearly shown in the Bible and this will be a topic I will take the time to explore later.

Now let’s look at the greed of the problem. I have personally dealt with this issue living in a state that has a lot of casinos. The topic is a hard one in the Bible it is said: “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.” Ecclesiastes 5:10 NIV. “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.” 1 Corinthians 16:2 NIV. Tanking a look at the passages above you need to understand that you cannot spend every dollar you have to hit a so called jackpot. This will only lead you down a path that will end with a bunch of collection calls. Its funny I’ve been there and done that. Now as we look further in the scriptures we see that we have to make a choice, for it is written: “No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.” Luke 16:13 NIV.

Is it a sin to gamble? I feel the answer to that is no, in the same token if it takes control of your life it is. Gambling by its very nature is designed to induce people into spending every dollar they have to hit the big one per say. This can lead to destruction of family, not to mention, the hit your finances will take. It should be done in a matter that you can afford. If you just got $19 dollars in gas and buy a lotto ticket for example, have you sinned? No, I feel that if you have control of it then it is not a sin. If your pay check is $1000 for the week and you spent $980 playing slot machines and then went and got your gas now you have an issue.

I enjoy playing online poker. Many would call that a sin. I started to play it for all the wrong reasons. In my heart all I wanted to do was strike it rich. I feel in that way I was sinning. I still enjoy the game, now I look at it in a different way. I play it for the challenge. Now, I look at the educational value of poker. I have started a blog on this very issue. "Christian Poker Player"

In closing if you allow the love of money control your gambling you are doomed from the start. You need to take a look at it in this example given to me by my father. “Pornography is a sin but, if you where a detective trying to get rid of child porn on the internet, you are looking at porn, not for a sinful reason but for a just cause.”

So, next time you look at a slot machine or go to a home poker game ask yourself? What are my reasons for playing this game? Is it social, spending time with friends? Is it because I am down to my last $20 from my paycheck and I need to make more money? I think you know in your heart why you do it. Let the Holy Spirit tell you whether it is wrong or right.