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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: GAMBLE (04/14/16)
The Mirror Image of Faith

Is gambling a sin? Is it OK to gamble as long as you aren’t addicted or using your food money? Are church raffles to raise money OK? Too often when exploring these issues we are looking for legal permission or loopholes. We are no longer under the law but are under grace; we are to live by faith.

Faith is trust and confidence in God to provide us with what we need. The mirror image of faith is to gamble. At first glance they appear to be the same thing. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and unseen; when people gamble they also hope for something yet unseen. Although they appear the same, just like a reflection in a mirror, they are in fact reversals of one another.

When we gamble we are going in the opposite direction of faith; from trusting in God to trusting in chance. People gamble because they are hoping they will win; whether it is a church raffle for a turkey dinner or a lottery ticket raffling a new home or a casino poker game playing for money. Whether we are trying to win money or buy groceries or greedily trying to obtain more money or a better home, when we gamble we are saying God has not provided for us and we must take matters into our own hands.

We are told in 1 Corinthians 6:12 that all things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. Our sinful nature wants us to do things we know are not helpful. We want to find legal loopholes so that our sin nature can be satisfied. We are constantly trying to bring things back under the law. So if all things are lawful then is it OK to gamble? But not all things are helpful. Is gambling helpful? The real question people should be asking is if not trusting God is helpful?
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This article has been read 474 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
C D Swanson 
04/21/16
You raise some very salient points in this well written entry. Good message!

Blessings~
Pat Small
04/22/16
Thoughtful article. The last sentence took a second reading before I got it. I think it needs to be re-worked to be more easily understood.
Rosie Foshee
04/22/16
This is a thought provoking article that points us in the right direction. This article is right on target for the topic. It is unique and creative, in that it provokes us with questions we may never ask ourselves when taking our eyes off God. We simply rush foolishly ahead and suffer the loss when we gamble. We are not gamblers and have never been. But there are other ways of gambling in life besides with money, so this article applies to all of us.
Bonnie Bowden 
04/24/16
Thoughtful and insightful article.
Gambling definitely is opposite sides of the same coin.