The Bible Speaks to You September 4, 1965 Issue

[The above is an abbreviated, post production text of the program released for broadcast the week of August 27—September 2 in the radio series, "The Bible Speaks to You." Heard internationally over more than 950 stations, the weekly programs are prepared and produced by the Christian Science Committeeon Publication, I07 Falmouth Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.]

RADIO PROGRAM No. 178 - Dealing with the Pressures of Social Drinking

QUESTIONER: There seems to be much pressure on people today to indulge in social drinking. Even when a person doesn't really want to join in or indulge, he often finds it hard to resist.

SPEAKER: But, you know, it isn't hard to resist if he realizes that there is a spiritual power always available to him, wherever he is, whether it's on a plane or a college campus or even in a restaurant. And he can draw on this divine power at all times for the moral courage and the resourcefulness lie needs to resist the temptation, or even the inclination, to drink. In the Old Testament we read (Isa. 41:13), "I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee"; and in the New Testament (II Tim. 1:7). "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

You see, it is spiritual power that enables the individual to resist the temptation, the pressure, that drinking is something that he has to do or wants to do. But he must make a choice. First of all, he has to face up squarely to the problem right within his own thinking. That's where the pressure to drink has its first impact, hasn't it? It appeals first of all to a person's thinking. And so that's where he has to come to grips with it. If he conquers the pressures there first, he'll be able to resist all the propaganda in favor of social drinking. It is spiritual power which gives him the moral courage and ability to do this.

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