by Ryan Schreiber

Created on: November 08, 2008   Last Updated: November 24, 2008

There is an old saying, "One must become a fool, before they can be wise; Just as one must become weak before they can be strong." As a servant of Christ, I must say, I have dwelt on this passage for many years. Why? Because it reflects a very "cut-and-dry" depiction of myself- and a simple understanding of my ways up until now. For every man and woman in the world today have what I like to call, a "foolish weakness". In other words human nature is full of imperfections, like that of the flesh- lust, desire, immoralities; want as opposed to need, and so on and so forth. With that said, because of our inevitable weakness we can find ourselves vulnerable to temptation. My "foolish weakness" was to drink. And my drinking led to an obsession of the mind(Alcoholism) that made me vulnerable to temptation at any given moment. And when temptation conceives, or overcomes a man, it gives birth to sin- the "knowledgeable" act against God. For to the one who "knows to not", and still does, to them it is sin

Now in accordance with reason, I contemplate the question at hand. "Is drinking a sin for Christians?" Well first off, I would like to set the record straight: Sin is sin, whether you're a Christian or not. And whether you're a Christian or not, if you drink, you put yourself at risk of being vulnerable to temptation. For me, to drink, was to completely replace the God of my salvation with a bottle of liquor. And for any of you who can relate, or have followed the same path, I tell you now, "You're damn right it is sin." But for those of you, whether Christian or not, who drink without the mental obsession of the "modern alcoholic"; I say to you, "Watch your ways, and count your steps." For drinking is found to be pleasant at first, but as one continues to indulge they will only find dissipation of the mind and soul; and in the end, futility- the internal void that yearns to be filled by that which is beyond our understanding.

To me, drinking transformed my entire persona. Deceit overflowed and my mind would begin to drown, like a lost soul engulfed in darkness- the gloom that one finds themselves in when confronted by distress and anguish. "For by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved." With that said, a man simply cannot have two masters; for he will love the one(being that of which he is overcome), and hate the other. Alcohol is a poison to my very existence; for it corrupts the vessel and all it contains. And given my extensive background and experience, believe me, this is a confident assertion.

For anything within the realm of mankind; that is, anything that can be revered among the five senses or the thoughts and perceptions of the mind, leading a man further from God than he already is, can be described as an "object of sin"; And yes, in our case, even a bottle

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