It does not logically follow that, because God made something, it’s OK to smoke it/drink it/eat it/etc. Because God made snake venom — which can be lethal to humans — it does not mean it’s OK to drink the poison! In fact, it would be a very bad idea. So, we cannot say that, simply because God made marijuana then it’s OK to use it.

Below we’ll look at a few of the issues we need to consider when it comes to drug use and drug abuse:

Is it illegal to use the drug? If it is, then that rules the drug out because Christians are to be people who obey the government when the laws do not contradict God’s laws (1 Peter 2:13-17; Acts 5:29). If a government bans a drug then that does not contradict God’s laws, so we should stay clear of illegal drugs.

If the drug is legal we need to consider if using the drug inhibits us from serving God. For example, a Christian is called, in normal circumstances, to trust other people (1 Cor. 13:7). However, drugs like cannabis are known for making you paranoid, which is the opposite of trusting. Drugs can hamper our ability to be who God wants us to be, so we should avoid them.

A good verse to sum up the problem of drug use is 1 Peter 5:8:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Drugs interfere with the way out brains work, stopping us from being sober, clearer minded: they stop us from resisting the devil; they stop us from fulfilling the potential that God wants us to reach in our lives as Christians.

It’s worth quickly considering drug addiction. Christians are called to be free (Gal. 5:1), but drug addiction is a slavery. 2 Peter 2:19 (NIV) says:

They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity — for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

If we become addicted to a drug it takes over our life and rules us, becoming our master. People might think you are a spoilsport or a party pooper if you don’t take drugs; they might think you are constrained and aren’t being free. But in reality, if you refuse drugs, you are being far more free — you are being free to choose, free to think clearly, and you aren’t being mastered by a substance: you are still fully in control of who you are.

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