I was wondering what everyone's opinions are about gambling. I don't believe the Bible says anything specifically about it. I know that it would be wrong if you let it completely control your life, but what if you had about 3 million bucks in the bank and you took about $50 to the casino just to have fun. It wouldn't be enough to ruin your life, so I don't see anything wrong with it. Some people however see taking any money to the casino as completely wrong. Thoughts???

I believe it has to do with your personal convictions. In the Bible it says that if you feel strongly that something is a sin and would dishonor God, then you should act on that belief. So while the Bible might not specifically say that gambling is a sin, but you strongly feel that it [i]is[/i] a sin and that it would dishonor God to gamble, then you [i]shouldn't[/i] gamble. Therefore, I believe that since gambling isn't specifically labeled as a sin, if you feel that it isn't a sin for you, it's not a sin for you. However, that's not to say that you should go do anything of questionable morality that isn't specifically mentioned in the Bible as a sin. I think it's sort of one of those gray areas. Personally, I don't think that gambling in itself is a sin, but, as you said, it can become a sin if you let it control your life. It could even be considered a sin if you gamble occasionally, but recklessly. Like, if you decide to gamble one time, but you bet everything you own and you lose, you would be seriously affecting your family in a negative way. Therefore, I think that could be considered a sin. But my main belief is that you should go by your own personal convictions (that are God-based). But that's just me.

I choose not to support the gambling industry, because I know its past. I know where it came from, and while the illegal operations of La Casa Nostra may have been shut down, their legacy lives on, in Vegas, Reno, and in State-run and multi-state lotteries to this day. Whether *I* can handle gambling or not, I don't really want to feed into an industry that proves to be so harmful to so many. That said, I absolutely believe in live-and-let-live so I'm not telling anyone else what they should do.