What else should I know about gambling?

Proverbs 1:19Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money; it robs them of life.

Proverbs 28:22Greedy people try to get rich quick but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty.

Gambling is rooted in the hope of getting rich quick, but it often ends in poverty. Gambling almost always increases our debts, while careful saving reduces our debts. In gambling, we set ourselves up for a loss because the odds are against us. When we work hard and save, we set ourselves up for success.

Jeremiah 17:11Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid, so are those who get their wealth by unjust means. At midlife they will lose their riches; in the end, they will become poor old fools.

Most lottery winners go broke within a few years. Gaining money outside of hard work does not produce the discipline needed to use it wisely.

Proverbs 10:16The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin.

Gambling squanders the resources God has given us. Through hard work and careful habits, giving and saving enhances our lives.

Matthew 16:26“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”

Luke 16:13“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

1 Timothy 6:9-10People who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

2 Peter 2:19They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.

The addiction of gambling and the greed it encourages are destructive. Addiction has the power to draw us away from God, take control of our lives, and totally consume us. Unchecked, it can lead us to gamble away our very soul.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.

Those who work for their money will be financially independent, but those who gamble often end up in financial ruin. God calls us to lives of honest work and responsibility, both for our own good and for the good of our witness to the world.