Sin and Tempation: Week 4, Day 2

Day 2: Pass Me Another Beer.

A minimum of 8 million teenagers drinks alcohol every week. Nearly 500,000 teenagers (almost as large as the entire population of Albuquerque) go on a weekly binge. (They have at least five drinks in a row.) Middle School and High School Students drink 35% of all wine coolers sold annually and drink 1.1 billion cans of beer per year. Alcohol-related deaths are the number one cause of death among young people ages 15-24. Number two is suicide.

Why do students today drink alcohol? Peer pressure is the number one reason. They want to fit in. They fear being alone or becoming a social outcast. Since everyone else is doing it, why not them? If you hang around people that drink, you will drink. 80% of students who drink alcohol say their close friends drink alcohol as well. It is true. No one likes to drink alone.

A second factor to teenagers drinking is parents. If their parents drink, there is an 82% greater chance of drinking alcohol as well. So whatever parents do, their children do in excess.

Another factor is the culture in which you grow up today. Alcohol is sung about on the radio, becomes the life of the party when it arrives, and is seen as the acceptable thing to do in movies. Everyone drinks! Right?

The final reason students turn to alcohol is because they don’t know what else to turn to. Students want quick answers to the problems they face. If they can’t find an immediate answer, they get frustrated and want to escape the pain for only a few moments. Loneliness, family problems, relationship problems, self-esteem problems.

The truth about alcohol is simply this: Alcohol might make a person feel big, but in reality, it makes you look small. There is nothing glamorous about not being in control of yourself. I used to escort people into the bathroom to throw up all the alcohol they had just consumed. There is nothing, and I repeat nothing glamorous about throwing up. If the people around you are pressuring you to go out and drink or get drunk with them, then remember they are not your true friends. You don’t need them, and you don’t need that. You can have a great time without alcohol. Alcohol is not the life of the party.

You could be one drink away from being an alcoholic. But, unfortunately, for some people, the chemical reaction to alcohol in their bodies goes so nuts that they could become alcoholics from that day on. No lie. You play with fire; you will get burned.

The Bible is clear about the topic of alcohol. The Bible says:

Obey the laws of the land. Romans 13:1. The laws of the land say you should not partake of alcoholic beverages until the age of 21.
The Bible says that we should never get drunk. Ephesians 5:18. If a person gets drunk, they are going against God’s plan for their life and are sinning.
The Bible says we should be careful to never participate in anything that would cause someone else to stumble in the faith. Romans 14:13.

I’m old enough to drink a beer, and as long as I’m not drunk, I’m obeying the Bible. However, if someone sees me drinking alcohol, I believe they might think that drinking alcohol is okay. As a result, they start drinking, and then they become an alcoholic. I don’t want to do anything that could lead someone into something that could destroy them.

There are enough beverages on the market today that will quench your thirst without taking advantage of you. So stay away from this stuff. It will mess you up.

Time Out:

According to Proverbs 23:29-35, answer the following questions:

What is God’s opinion of those who go out and get drunk?

What is God’s warning in verse 31?

What does God say drunkenness is like, according to verse 32?

In verse 35, God makes it clear that people who drink alcohol have a constant craving for more alcohol. Even though alcohol makes a person look foolish and hurts them, they continue to want more. People with this problem live out Proverbs 26:11. Write out that verse below.

What does that verse say to you?

According to Romans 6:11-14, God asks us to offer what parts of our body to Him?