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Merriam Webster Dictionary defines gambling as this: the practice or activity of betting: the practice of risking money or other stakes in a game or bet.<\/em><\/p>\n Gambling is taking a risk or chance at winning, by risking what we already have. This is especially with money, by attempting to multiply it as quickly as possible. Proverbs 28:20 warns us about this temptation and method: \u201cA faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Gambling is an easy way to attempt to get rich, but God wants us to use His given talents and skills to work with dignity, perseverance and reliability to his job. Like Ephesians 4:28 tells us, \u201cLet 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Acts 20:35 says, \u201cIn all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, \u2018It is more blessed to give than to receive.\u2019\u201d Gambling focuses on victory over each other.<\/p>\n One of the dangers of gambling is that it is addictive. No matter if we win or lose, gambling addiction causes us to crave more. Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, \u201cHe who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.\u201d<\/em> Similarly to other addictions, such as drugs, pornography, computers, video games, etc., the addiction doesn\u2019t only affect the one who is doing the action. Addiction is hurtful to our families and those who care about us. Addiction causes people to lose their homes, their kids, their marriages and more. <\/p>\n As 1 Timothy 6:10 warns us, \u201cFor 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.\u201d<\/em> And reminding us of our focus from Luke 16:13, \u201cNo servant can serve two masters, for 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.\u201d<\/em> Serving God and earning a living His way is the good way. His ways don\u2019t come with regrets, and that is why He loves us enough to warn us against the ways that the world wants to entice us with money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Merriam Webster Dictionary defines gambling as this: the practice or activity of betting: the practice of risking money or other stakes in a game or bet. Gambling is taking a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,12],"tags":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iknowthebible.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iknowthebible.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iknowthebible.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iknowthebible.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iknowthebible.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/iknowthebible.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1134,"href":"https:\/\/iknowthebible.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895\/revisions\/1134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iknowthebible.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iknowthebible.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iknowthebible.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iknowthebible.com\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}