9 Bible Verses about Gambling. To Sin And Evil Jesus Christ. Being In Debt Piercings Money. The Bible does not implicitly say that betting 1 /gambling is a sin. However, there are plenty of reasons to suggest that is more than frowned upon - mostly due to temptation and the potential to take over minds and hearts with greed. For example, I have found a few verses from Bible Study Tools that support this argument. Topical Bible Verses 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. The 'lots' mentioned in the Bible may have been a form of dice, but that is not certain. The Bible does not give any direct guidance on whether gambling is right or wrong. According to the Bible, however, some of the motivations and actions that may accompany modern gambling are sins: Greed, obsession with money (Mark 7:20-23, 1 Timothy 6:10).
Bible verses about gambling
Many people wonder is gambling a sin? Although there might not be a clear cut verse from what we learn in Scripture I strongly believe it is a sin and all Christians should stay away from it. It is terrible to see that some churches are bringing gambling in the house of God. The Lord is not pleased.
Many people are going to say, well the Bible doesn’t specifically say you can’t do it. The Bible doesn’t specifically say you can’t do a lot of things that we know as sin.
Many people find any excuse they can give for what is wrong, but just like Satan deceived Eve he will deceive many by saying, did God really say you can’t do that?
Quotes
- “Gambling is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief.” – George Washington
- “Gambling is a sickness, a disease, an addiction, an insanity, and is always a loser in the long run.”
- “Gambling can be just as addictive as drugs and alcohol. Teens and their parents need to know that they’re not just gambling with money, they’re gambling with their lives.”
- “Gambling is the sure way of getting nothing for something.”
Gambling is of the world, it is very addicting, and it will cause you harm.
Gambling is loving something that is part of the cruel world, not only is it dangerous especially back in the days where many were being plotted on and murdered for their money. Gambling is very addictive, you can go into a casino one day thinking I’m going to spend this much, then leave without your car. For some people it’s that bad and it can become even worse.
I’ve heard many stories about people losing their lives for owing money and people losing their lives by committing suicide because of the money they lost. Many people have lost their houses, spouses, and kids over their gambling addiction. You might say that I don’t gamble that much, but it doesn’t matter. Even if it is small fun gambling it is sin and it should not be done. Always remember that sin grows overtime. Your heart becomes harder, your desires become greedier, and it will turn into something that you never saw coming.
1. 1 Corinthians 6:12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say–but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”–but I will not be mastered by anything.
2. 2 Peter 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity–for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”
3. 1 Timothy 6:9-10 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 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.
4. Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will.
5. Proverbs 15:27 The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live.
Gambling leads to more sin.
Not only does gambling lead to deeper and deeper covetousness, but it leads to different types of sin. When you go to the movie theater and buy popcorn they make it extra buttery so you will buy their expensive drinks. When you go to casinos they promote alcohol. When you are not sober you will be trying to kick back and spend more money. Many people who are addicted to gambling are also living in drunkenness. Prostitutes are always near casinos. They entice men who seem like high rollers and they entice men who are down on their luck. It is not a surprise that most casinos promote sensuality and women.
6. James 1:14-15 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Scripture teaches that we are to be on guard against covetousness.
7. Exodus 20:17 Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
8. Ephesians 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.
9. Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
As Christians we are to fix our attitudes on money.
10. Ecclesiastes 5:10 Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.
11. Luke 16:13 “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.”
Scripture On Gambling Being A Sin
What is your eye gazing upon?
Your chance of winning the lottery on a single ticket is one in 175 million. That means that someone has to really be greedy and have dreams of riches to still try and play the lottery. You have to pay for more and more tickets because of your greed and what you are really doing is emptying your pockets because of your covetousness.
Most gamblers throw money away. Most people who go to casinos lose money that could have been used for paying bills or on the less fortunate, but instead people would rather throw it away. It is wasting God’s money on evil, which is similar to stealing.
12. Luke 11:34-35 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.
13. Proverbs 28:22 Greedy people try to get rich quick but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty.
14. Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.
15. Proverbs 28:20 The trustworthy person will get a rich reward, but a person who wants quick riches will get into trouble.
We are to be hard workers.
The Bible teaches us to work hard and worry about others. Gambling teaches us to do the opposite. In fact, many of the people who play the lottery are poor. Gambling destroys something that God intended for good. You have to understand that the devil is using it to destroy the foundation of work.
16. Ephesians 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
17. Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.
18. Proverbs 10:4 Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.
19. Proverbs 28:19 Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.
Gambling and betting is giving the appearance of evil.
What would you think if you went inside a casino and you saw your pastor holding money in one hand and rolling dice in another? That picture just wouldn’t look right would it? Now picture yourself doing the same thing. Society does not look at gambling as being honest. The betting industry is a dark world filled with crime. Google treats gambling websites like pornography websites. Gambling websites contain a lot of viruses.
20. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
Many churches want to turn God’s house into a place to play bingo and other gambling activities, which is wrong. God’s house is not a place to make profit. It is a place to worship the Lord.
21. John 2:14-16 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”
Gambling is not trusting in the Lord.
One of the greatest problems of gambling is it takes away from trusting in the Lord. God says I will provide for your needs. Satan says roll the dice there might be a chance that you win and become filthy rich. You see the problem. When you trust in God nothing is by chance. God provides for our needs and God gets all the glory. Gambling is showing that you don’t really trust in the Lord.
22. Isaiah 65:11 But because the rest of you have forsaken the LORD and have forgotten his Temple, and because you have prepared feasts to honor the god of Fate and have offered mixed wine to the god of Destiny.
23. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
Reminders
24. Proverbs 3:7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
25. Proverbs 23:4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.
In conclusion.
You have a higher chance of being struck by lighting than winning the lottery. Most gambling is not made for you to win. It’s made for you to dream about what if I did win. Gambling fails in its attempt to give people hope because most people spend thousands of dollars for nothing. Just take a thousand dollars and throw it in the garbage that is exactly what gamblers do over the course of time. When you have greed you will always lose more than you gain. Gambling is bad for your health and it violates many Scriptures as seen above. Seek hard work and trust in the Lord with your income.
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Giving an adequate answer to the dilemma first requires a biblical review of money in general, after which gambling itself can be examined.
Where money is concerned, the Bible certainly is not silent. To begin with, Scripture makes it clear that everything belongs to God. Paul simply asks his readers, 'What do you have that you did not receive?' (1 Corinthians 4:7). Even though individuals work and earn money, the Bible says that it is God who is the ultimate source of their income: 'You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth' (Deuteronomy 8:18).
The Bible also says that we should ultimately trust in God and not get-rich-quick schemes that promise wealth: 'And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus' (Philippians 4:19).
Scripture also makes it clear that money is to be gained through work and labor: 'In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty' (Proverbs 14:23), and 'Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty' (Proverbs 28:19).
Further, the Bible warns against debt and owing any creditor large amounts of money: 'The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender' (Proverbs 22:7), and 'Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law' (Romans 13:8).
In fact, Scripture promotes the opposite of debt– saving money vs. becoming a debtor: 'Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest' (Proverbs 6:6-8).
Finally, the Bible promotes a generous and willing heart to share what financial resources a person has gained through his labor: 'Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered' (Proverbs 11:25). Jesus simply said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive' (Acts 20:35).
These principles explain the core truths in God's Word. Money itself is not evil, but the passion for it is, according to Paul: '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. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs' (1 Timothy 6:9-10).
Like Paul, Jesus – in His parable about the sower – also warned how the desire for money can thwart the pursuit of true riches: 'And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature' (Luke 8:14).
Once we understand the above biblical truths on money , a position on gambling is much easier to reach. Today, gambling takes a variety of forms: lotteries, casinos, sports betting, quick-stop gaming stands (video poker, etc.), and perhaps the most prevalent type today, online or internet gambling.
Gambling itself has been around for a very long time, and universally, the Church has taken a dim view of it. For example, an early second century sermon preached in a North African church contained the following description of gambling: 'The game of dice is an obvious snare of the devil. He presides over the game in person, bringing to it the deadly venom of the serpent and even inducing ruin which when it is seen to be nothing, a great let down is brought about in the players.'
Down through history, key figures in Christianity have also held an unfavorable view of gambling. Augustine said, 'The devil invented gambling.' Martin Luther proclaimed, 'Money won by gambling is not won without sin and self-seeking sin.' John Calvin outlawed gambling in the city of Geneva.
But why did these men and others in the Church reject gambling – why did they believe gambling to be sinful? First, gambling betrays the following internal attitudes:
• Materialism
• Greed
• Discontent
• Reliance on chance vs. reliance on God's providence
• Exploitation
• Laziness vs. working
• Thwarting of charity
• Seeking to gain from the loss of others
Second, from a philosophical perspective, gambling shows itself to be devoid of value and worth. Philosophically speaking, the nature of any 'thing' can be known by the effects it produces. From an internal, personal standpoint, the attributes above show that gambling results in very poor personal effects. Externally, gambling shows itself to be no better, producing the following effects:
• Addiction
• Poverty
• Crime
• Dishonesty
• Family strife and divorce
Scripture On Gambling Being A Single
• Escape into alcoholism• Exploitation of the poor
When both its external and internal effects are examined, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that gambling demonstrates itself to be spiritually bankrupt.
In the Old Testament, God specifically warned about the spirit behind gambling when He said, 'But you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in ' (Isaiah 65:11-12).
The phrase 'set a table' means 'to bring food to an idol.' The Hebrew word for 'Destiny' comes from the Hebrew word Meni
, and it means 'luck.' Israel was literally worshipping the gods of luck and fortune and trusting them for their needs, rather than worshipping and trusting God.This is what people do today who immerse themselves in gambling. And because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, it is foolish thinking to believe His views on the matter have changed.