Is It Wrong For A Christian To Gamble?

Casino. Slot machine with jackpot, dice, cards and chips. 3d

To many people gambling is just an act of playing games of chance for money or betting. Others look at it as taking a risky activity in the hope of a desired result.

With an influx of betting games and sporting bets many people have found themselves addicted to the life of gambling.

In May, 2016 a 42 year old man who works in a Nairobi bank lost sh.500,000 after placing it on an online football bet. His wife also ended up leaving him after she found out the husband had lost half a million through a bet.

Another man in Eldoret was found dead after hanging himself on a tree because he had borrowed Sh.45,000 from KCB bank and  placed a bet on the Spanish team Athletico Madrid who ended up losing the match.

Despite calls to the public to practice responsible betting, others have resulted to gamble their way into financial freedom.

The government has also put in place stringent measures to try curb excessive betting but that has not quite worked because with social media, advertisements on both local Radio stations and Television and customized SMSs have only attracted people thus creating a gambling nation.

Talking to Kenyans on the street, Ian Kariuki believes that gambling is not a sin, explaining that the main reason he gambles is because he is eager to make much more money and should he ever win a huge amount of money he will still pay his tithe because it is part of earning cash.

Dennis Karani a resident in Nairobi says he has never gambled because he does not believe in getting anything easily or for free. Seeing how some of his friends have placed all their salary in bets and lost all the money discourages him to even try to gamble.

Uncontrolled gambling has resulted to loss of jobs, broken families and loss of life and despite the craze growing day by day, the public ought to be taught ways of practicing responsible betting because it is here to stay.

So have you ever gambled before? Do you think gambling is wrong for a Christian?.

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