Most people think of casinos and playing the lottery when they hear the word gambling. Unfortunately, gambling isn’t limited to just these two areas. Race tracks, pool halls, card games, and any number of online activities in today’s world help to make gambling all the more easy to do, and very addictive for many. What does the Bible say about gambling?
Scriptures To Consider
(Proverbs 13:11) Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.
(Ecclesiastes 5:10) Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.
(Mathew 6:24) “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
(Hebrews 13:5) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
(1 Timothy 6:10) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Thou Shalt Not Gamble
Gambling can be defined as playing games of chance for money, or taking risky action in the hope of a desired result. When dealing with subjects like gambling, an individual has to be willing to accept the principles from God’s Word about things such as money. Nothing from any of the above scriptures should make a person truly looking for guidance from the Bible feel good about gambling. Those who are looking for the scripture that says, “Thou shalt not gamble” will not find it. However, the principles that apply to a subject such as gambling can easily be seen.
Gambling Addictions – The very few that win are taking money from the many that can’t afford to lose. Just in the United States alone it is estimated that up to 6 million people have a gambling problem.
Get Rich Quick – The get rich quick mentality behind gambling is the direct opposite of the Bible’s principles of working and good stewardship of money.
(1 Thessalonians 5:22) reject every kind of evil
What’s Wrong With Having A Little Fun
For the people who say they are just using excess money to have fun, think about the addict who is gambling with the family’s grocery money. You are at the very least involving yourself with something that has all the appearances of evil. From the rigged gambling casinos filled with alcohol and smoking, to lotteries that cause many people to spend money they can’t afford to lose, not much good can be found with things that involve gambling. For every person that has the discipline to spend just a little recreation money gambling, there are countless others that go broke trying to get rich quick.
People who have applied the principles from the Bible involving money often times will find themselves to have accumulated a lot of wealth in life. It’s not hard to see these people testifying to others about how God has blessed them. A Christian who tries to explain how God has blessed them by allowing them to win the lottery, that one would be a little tougher to listen too.
Isn’t The Stock Market The Same As Gambling?
This is often asked in an attempt to justify gambling. The stock market does have the potential to be the equivalent of gambling if a person is not wise with their investment decisions. The same get rich quick mentality behind gambling has caused many people to lose big in the stock market. From day trading to penny stocks, lot’s of people have made unwise decisions and learned some hard lessons.
With that being said, investing in companies and businesses that will grow your money over time is not the same as gambling. The idea of using part of your income to buy the stocks of solid companies is vastly different from the (become a millionaire overnight) mentality often involved with gambling and unwise stock purchases. The overall stock market has its ups and downs, but over time it has always proven to be a great investment.
The Parable Of The Talents
It is often referred to as “The Parable of the Talents”. In (Mathew 25) we get a clear picture about being good stewards with what God has given us. In this parable a man has three servants. He gives one servant five bags of gold. To another servant two bags of gold. The last servant got one bag of gold. The master returns to these servants after a period of time to settle accounts. He finds that the servant who got five bags had put the money to work and gained five more bags of gold. The one given two bags had gained two more. Finally, the one given one bag had dug a hole and buried the money given to him.
The masters’ reply to the each of the servants who had wisely invested the money entrusted to them was, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” They both were rewarded greatly. To the one who buried his gold he replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest”. He then proceeded to throw the servant outside into the darkness.
That is pretty plain-spoken. Being wise and putting to good use the money God has blessed us with is very much a Biblical principle. It seems like gambling just doesn’t fit into the wise category.
