No, I don't drink Pepsi (except as a last resort). I do like Coke (the kind you drink). But it is not so important to me that I would never drink soft drinks if it offended others with whom I am associated. Yet you told us that alcohol was so important to you that you chose it over the conviction of your own wife that it was sinful. Soft drinks are not so important to me that I would start thread after thread trying to justify my drinking of the beverage. Yet this one thing, alcohol, seems to have become a priority in your life. In our culture, soft drinks are not associated with sinfulness. But alcohol often is. Soft drinks may be abused in terms of gluttony and sugar intake but they are not a curse on our nation in terms of it's abuse becoming the cause of
26.9% of our citizens over 18 binge drinking,
88,000 deaths, and
$249 billion economic burden on our nation. That would be alcohol.
In 2012
3.3 million.....get that....
3.3 MILLION....deaths worldwide were associated with alcohol.
In 2014 the World Health Organization associated alcohol with over
200 diseases and injury related health concerns.
In the age group 20-39, alcohol accounts for
25% of deaths.
Over 10% of our children live with parents who struggle with alcohol.
In 2013, of the 72,559 liver disease deaths among individuals ages 12 and older,
45.8 percent involved alcohol.
Among all cirrhosis deaths in 2013,
47.9 percent were alcohol related.
Drinking alcohol increases the risk of cancers of the mouth, esophagus, pharynx, larynx, liver, and breast.
The passage that you provided gave you what it means to do these things to the "glory of God". You don't have to leave the passage to find a definition to apply. Does it uplift God to others, or is it an indulgence?
Know that this year in our nation alcohol will contribute to the deaths of over 80,000 people, over 3 million world wide, that it will contribute to over 7 million children in America experiencing the struggle of living with an alcoholic parent, and thousands will be inflicted by disease because of alcohol. And know that you are taking a part in this curse.
Alcohol Facts and Statistics | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)