smoking

[grandma dolittle]

I wonder how many Christians still smoke?? I do and I know I shouldn't and I have tried to stop. My main problem is that I enjoy a cigarette with a cup of coffee, after a meal, when i sit down to rest, and in between. For me a cigarette is a stimulant when I am tired or can't think straight; and a seditave when I am upset. I feel like I have leprosy when I light up anywhere but my house.. i respect others who don't smoke and if they visit me... I will smoke outside. Do you smoke????

[xero]

I enjoy smoking. Ive smoked for several months, quit for several months, back and forth since I was a teen. If you enjoy it, but want to quit, dont burden yourself with loathing about it, that will only make you smoke more, you have to wean yourself from lets say ten a day down to eight then six and four onto two til you have that last one, could take a month or two to get there but the method works. I go cold turkey (not to be proud its just faster) but thats not very successful for many.

[BFP]

I smoke...I feel like a leper too... But I know where I stand in Christ, and figure that at least *my* sin isn't a hidden one. When I worked downtown and went out to smoke you used to laughingly tell my boss that I was going out to offend people, because these days it seems like that is what we do more than anything. But at the same time, there are many things that non smokers do that are offensive as well...cursing, littering, overeating, watching garbage, and so much more.

I also don't believe that smoking is the most unhealthy thing you can do either...regular household cleaners have just as many cancer causing effects, so does wearing make-up, pesticides, all our personal care products, and sooo much more that people aren't aware of. But smokers are the scapegoat for all of it...and these days non smokers blame thier cancers on being around smokers.

But I don't smoke inside my home...I can't stand the smell of it...and I do care about exposing my children to it. I also use all natural cleaners, don't wear makeup and make my own natural soaps and skin care products. These days, whether you smoke or not you are exposed to a great many carcenogens every day, there is no avoiding it.

[Babbler]

I use to until I had a stroke six months ago. I miss it but there is no going back. When I see someone smoking, I feel it is my duty to inform them that the physical state I am in is attributable to smoking. I do not expect it to have an impact on their choices. I see their expressions and I do not blame them at all because that was me and would still be if not for my condition. I am expected to fully recover but the therapy is slow. What an emotional roller coaster. I now buckle my seatbelt; not because I am scared of injury I just never want go though a therapy program again. Due to this illness, empathy is no longer a word but a genuine emotion for me.

[oldzimm]

Smoke! who me?.............Nope, I just put a pinch between my lip and gums.

[gdemoss]

Started age 9, smoked 26 years straight, delivered in one day and haven't missed it at all. It seems so strange that something that was so much a part of my life just ended without any desire to go back but such has been the same with many things in my walk with God.

Gary

[~Shalhevet~]

I think I loved smoking more than any person in the world.

I smoked for 15 years and I'm only 32.

It took many, many, MANY quits to get to where I am today (1 year smoke free!). I praise God for this freedom.

I would encourage you to pray about this and ask the Lord to free you from this bondage. I don't think He wants any of his children captive to such a terrible habit.

But I will admit that I still do think about cigarettes. It's a lifetime commitment to quit and it's tough.

[Guest LadyC]

i don't believe that smoking, in and of itself, is any more sinful than having a glass of wine with dinner. (which, by the way, i don't believe is a sin at all.) now, if you let it control your life, then it is a sin of idolatry.

i smoked. it may not have been the thing God wanted me doing, but i suppose there were other areas of my life He was more concerned about. many, many times here on worthy, i said that my smoking was between me and God, and when He decided to deal with me about it, i'd obey.

and i did.

after 30+ years of a 2+ pack a day habit, God told me it was time. i put them down nearly three years ago and haven't picked them up since. it was a God thing then, and it's still a God thing now. and when He is ready to deal with you about that aspect of your life, He'll let you know. until then, rest assured that HE ALONE will let you know... He's quite capable of telling you directly rather than using the dripping condemnation of non smokers.

[Guest]

I wonder how many Christians still smoke?? I do and I know I shouldn't and I have tried to stop. My main problem is that I enjoy a cigarette with a cup of coffee, after a meal, when i sit down to rest, and in between. For me a cigarette is a stimulant when I am tired or can't think straight; and a seditave when I am upset. I feel like I have leprosy when I light up anywhere but my house.. i respect others who don't smoke and if they visit me... I will smoke outside. Do you smoke????

I don't smoke any more, and it was Jesus who cleaned up that mess -- not me.

I used to be one of those folks before I came to Christ who if someone got in my face about smoking (outdoors) I would have probably told them take a long walk off a short pier. If I were in a particularly nasty mood I would probably bounce the still burning butt off their forehead . . .

The Lord worked on my attitudes for a lot of years, and we are all at different places in our walks with Him. That you know you shouldn't smoke and want to stop is a good thing, but it might be awhile before you can. Don't let that get you down. Condemnation is not of God. Pray about it each day and ask for deliverance from the bondage, and be in the Bible and prayer every day.

What started my journey was I started noticing every (older in the Lord) believer I knew had been lead away from smoking at some point in thier lives. I knew the scriptures about our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit. It took the Lord to change my heart about the habit though. I was able to drop the habit like a sack of cement then - but that was Christ, not me.

[sPrevorb31]

I don't smoke (cause im 14), but I don't think there's anything wrong with it (provided that you do it at an age that it's legal) unless you're addicted to it. I think the same for drinking, too.