The Holy Book, Bible has brought hopes in lives of many people in this world, which includes some of the regular bettors on our website. Its common for a religious man to ask “What does Bible say about betting?”, or if its a sin for which we will be punished. Today I will explain you why Betting is not a sin when done within limits.
Let’s take an Example of a Football Match happening in a Stadium. There are 3 types of tickets available.
- Closest to the Field = $200
- Somewhere in the middle = $100
- Far from the field = $50
Now if you decide to go and watch the game, you will be spending atleast $50 on it. This money will go to Stadium owners, Sponsors, and other rich people. You just wasted $50 for a 90 minute sport. While, you could have fed a poor man with that money. But Nobody asks if, watching a Game at the Stadium a sin?
The thing is all the money we earn, is our hard earned money. If man will not spend that money on entertainment, then life will loose its meaning.
Money we spend on Betting if we do it within limits, is healthy and God considers it as entertainment and not Greed. But if you loose the money get addicted to gambling, then it is definitely a sin. Hence, always bet within your limits and God will be happy with you.
Is Betting a Sin in Bible?
Truth be told, Bible neither condemns the practice of betting nor it supports it directly. It totally depends on a person’s understanding and perspective how he interprets the sayings in Bible. In this modern age, there have been many amendments to the holy book.
Bible does not support materialism and asks every human to take pleasure in the things God has given to everyone. The holy book prompts us to work for the welfare of mankind and spread happiness in the world with our acts. So if Betting is sin, so are the following
- Buying a New phone
- Watching movies
- Going to stadium for matches
- Buying Fashionable clothes
But one thing which definitely is wrong, is to be greedy. If you want to do sports betting, do it for fun. Don’t make it a source of your livelihood.
How to keep God Happy?
A Man can always make the god feel proud by doing the following. If you have surplus money, and want to use it for betting or gambling. Make sure of the following
- Your Family is Fed.
- You have put some money in your Savings.
- Your Betting money doesn’t exceed 20% of your savings.
- You have not borrowed money from someone, if you did return the money first.
- Promise that you will feed a poor man, if you win some money at betting.
What Actually is a Sin?
Greed is a real sin. Some people get greedy in betting. When you are desperate to earn money in a short time through unfair means, you must stop immidiately. According to Bible, only those things are not good which are taking away the rights of other people. For example, only you bet on matches with the money which belongs to your wife or your children then it is obviously not a good thing. But if you have a surplus money then you can invest that money in betting or in any other form.
Conclusion
To conclude, we can say that it depends on person’s will whether on not he wants to invest his money in betting. There are no such rules or axioms in Bible which criticise betting directly. However, one should not go mad in collecting a huge sum of money through betting as it might lead to unhappiness in his life in the form of loss. Also, do not bet at the cost of your loved one’s comfort. Here we have mentioned a number of verses from the Bible which can be related to Gambling. Read these lines and form your own opinion about the betting in sports.
- “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.”
- “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
- “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
- “For you, yourselves know how you ought to follow our example…For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”
So, Bible does not ask everyone to abstain from betting completely or directly. The Holy book just teaches you not to make other persons in your life suffer because of your ill-habits. In today’s time, betting is a normal practice in a person’s life and a huge number of people are following it in their lives. If everyone is doing it according to his own will, then no one is wrong in this. However, one should set his limits while placing his bets. There are several examples in the society who have become rags from riches. And what led to their pathetic condition is their greed to earn money through chances. Hence, play safe and set your limits before investing your money in any bet.