What About Gambling?

How Do We Spend Our Money? In 1998, $600 billion was legally wagered in the U. S. –$2,000 per person, $1.6 billion per day $122 billion on food $105 billion on vehicles $25.4 billion on clothes!

Gambling Defined Risking what is yours to take what belongs to another without an investment or fair exchange. “Gambling is based on the desire to get something for nothing. Its distinctive principle is gain at the expense of the unwilling loss of another who equally desires to get something for nothing.” (J. E. Harris, “What’s the Harm in Gambling?”)

Beware of Greed and Covetousness Luke 12:15 “And He said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.’” Ephesians 5:5

God Stressed the Importance of Work 2 Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” Ephesians 4:28 Andy Rooney (60 Minutes) said, “How can we teach kids that hard work is the way to success if they hear radio commercials, paid for by their government, suggesting the way to get rich is to bet on a number?”

I Must Love My Neighbor James 2:8 “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well.” Philippians 2:3-4 Thomas Jefferson said, “Gaming corrupts our dispositions, and teaches us a habit of hostility against all mankind.”

I Am Responsible for the Needs of My Family 1 Timothy 5:8 Donald Trump (owner of the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ) said, “People will spend a tremendous amount of money in casinos, money that they would normally spend on buying a refrigerator or a new car. Local business will suffer because they’ll lose customer dollars to the casinos.”

I Am a Steward of the Things God Has Given Me Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fulness, The world and those who dwell therein.” 1 Corinthians 4:7 “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”

I Receive Comfort So That I May Give Comfort to Others 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”