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I don't know how helpful stories will be. My guess is that everyone in your group realizes that drunkenness is dangerous and sinful. As busy as college students are, it can be profoundly beneficial for them to seek out and engage in a routine Bible study. Still, it’s not always easy to make that decision—instead of a night with https://ecosoberhouse.com/ friends or yet another study session for a high-level math class, go to Bible study instead. The sweetest food, a delicacy in all nations, will make you sick, if you eat too much of it. A rule of wisdom is moderation or temperance, a disciplined approach to the use of anything, and it especially applies to food and drink.
Before we start looking at what the Scriptures teach, I want to state up front that I am a teetotaler. I do not drink things that are alcoholic out of both personal preference and concern about my influence on others because I am a pastor. As a preference, I admit it is simply a matter of personal taste. I have not yet tasted anything with alcohol in it that was https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/five-myths-about-alcoholism-you-probably-didnt-know/ better than the non-alcoholic version. But to me, that just makes sense since alcohol is produced as the by-product of fermentation which is the process by which the single celled organism, yeast, feeds on sugar and yields alcohol as its waste. In other words, an alcoholic beverage began as something sweet when it was fresh, but it was allowed to begin to rot.
Any stories that you want to tell, just use them as illustrations demonstrating how right these proverbs are. (I'll tell one such story below; it's the reason why I stopped drinking even before becoming a Christian). This proverb depicts wine and strong drink as actors in their own right. Wine mocks; it starts fights; and it makes people foolish. The personification suggests wine’s power to enslave, so that users feel powerless to resist its seduction, or the fighting and foolishness it incites. Other Bible scholars say that Paul is referring to unfermented grape juice.
The Nazirite was not more holy because of his abstinence, but rather the abstinence was just one of many outward signs of what made him holy – a serious dedication to the Lord in all things. The Nazirite would deny himself what others could freely do in order to be more focused on serving the Lord. The principle here is the same as in any fast. The first thing you discover in doing a careful study of this issue is that there are a lot of Hebrew and Greek words that have to be defined. Let me quickly summarize the words that are relevant to this study (A printed copy of the extensive word study is in the back). The rest of this lesson focuses on verses related to alcohol, but do note that these three verses also condemn other kinds of overindulgence.
Wise parents blessed with wealth will teach their children how to work to maintain it. Wise children will accept the burdens of responsibility that go with family wealth, always remembering that riches do not last forever. We can depend on God in the good times but even through the bad times, when the hope of any light is scarce. In fact, it is during the moments of extreme hopelessness that we can truly cherish the comfort and security that is only found in God our Heavenly Father. While the darkest times in our lives are the most painful, it is sometimes through these experiences that the light and hope of the gospel seems to shine brightest. Sometimes, to get things done, you have to be pushy or break a few rules.
Because the person was too drunk to remember what happened whether it was staggering into something by accident or being beat up by someone else. Dilation of the blood vessels from the alcohol, or lack of sleep from staying up late to drink, but still having to get up in the morning to go to work. There is loss of control of the mind resulting in hallucinations and perversity. Though drinking results in so much suffering, the person seeks another drink when they awake from being drunk. People didn't drink wine because the water was unsafe; they drank wine because they liked it (same with beer). People could (and did) still get quite drunk.
Sometimes, however, one is only half-of-an-ass drunk or less. Fortunately English allows for more precise measurement - as with jingled, which describes those only mildly drunk. We have hundreds of words describing alcohol and its various effects.
