smoking

[grandma dolittle]

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

Be careful where you spit. In my town there used to be a law against spitting on the sidewalk because the old men chewed and most children were bearfooted... and of course TB was common in those days.

[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????

i'll smoke me a good cigar every now and then.

Ugg! I don't like cigar smell, but I love to smell pipe tobacco. I guess it would be the same with a nonsmoker around me when I smoke. I have to take some pain med and they are habit forming, are they as bad or worse as a cigarette. i am addicted either way.

[Guest LadyC]

believe what you wish, i don't expect everyone to agree with me. but in my opinion, it was an apt comparison. and for those who feel it is a sin, it WOULD be for them to partake. what God does not define in scripture as sin is a matter between God and the individual.

in any case, i'm glad that i now longer smoke (even though my immune system plummeted AFTER i quit smoking). it was a costly habit, and it did control my life. God has delivered me from it, and i'm grateful He did.

The definition of sin is much broader than what is listed in the Bible, but those listed in it are definitely a sin. It is impossible for the Bible to list all possible things that could be a sin. But a sin in the general term is missing the mark, or standard of conduct or behavior God desires for us. Anything that does not please God is a sin, even stray thoughts.

I would bet that God would definitely not be pleased with a person willfully damaging their own body by smoking. Even though smoking or not would not affect salvation, it is a sin nevertheless. Do you think God would be pleased with a person cutting themselves with a knife as a form of pain relief? Smoking is basically doing that to your body, hurting it all the same.

Smoking not only hurt yourself, but it damage your reproductive cells, which would damage your future children. A lot of birth defects are attributed to smoking, it is like direct curse from this act.

nope, it didn't damage my reproductive cells a bit. my daughters are both happy, healthy, and normal, with above average intellects and are both highly artistic. really, are you going to continue to argue this point? agree to disagree, brother.

[Guest LadyC]

besides, i have to note here that although you have no problem arguing the point about what is or is not sin, you haven't once even said anything at all about God having delivered me from smoking. seems you are much more into belittling other people than in edifying them.

when God is done working on grandma in the areas that He sees as a higher priority, He'll deal with her about the smoking. this issue is between her and God, not her and you, udx, or anyone else here.

[winsomebulldog]

I readily and openly admit to having a bias against smoking. I grew up in a house full of smokers. Both parents and my 2 much older sisters. I had ear infections all the time when I was little, and that has been connected by some studies to exposure to smoking. And while I was a healthy kid, I developed severe allergies and asthma when I was 19 or 20 that more than one medical professional has suggested was likely caused by near 18 years of exposure to the smoke. However, my bias has virtually nothing to do with my personal, physical consequences of my family's choices to smoke. Instead, it stems from the grief I have endured as a result of the loss of all but one of those family members. I was 2 months shy of my 18th birthday when my mother died due to a case of pneumonia. Now, smoking does not cause pneumonia, but I have no doubt at all that she would have had a much better chance of fighting it off and surviving it if she hadn't had lungs already damaged and weakened by cigarettes. Then, 3 years later, my father died. He had quit smoking, but it was apparently too little, too late. He died from pulmonary scarring. The smoking likely didn't cause all of it, but it certainly didn't help the situation at all. Lastly, my sister died from lung cancer at the ripe old age of 43. (My mother was barely 50 when she died and my father, 63 at the time of his death.) Now, aside from my sister, I don't think smoking can be solely blamed for all these deaths. But I believe it played a role in them.

In the end, smoking, like so many other things in life, is a personal issue and something that is only between the smoker and God. I don't get into the faces of smokers, though I do really wish some of them would have enough consideration for others to no stand in clumps outside building entrances emitting a cloud of smoke. I did tell my sister-in-law once that I really wished she would quit for the sake of her children. Only once and I was crying when I said it because God had laid it on my heart to let her know I cared and didn't want to see her or her family go through the grief of her getting sick or possibly dying. She accepted what I said, but still smokes to this day. Her choice and I'm not going to "preach" at her about it.

I completely agree with many of the other posters that have said God will deal with smoking in His time. If He's ready for one of His children to stop smoking (or any other bad habit) He'll let them know and He'll give them whatever strength they need to kick that habit. Trying to shame or bully smokers into quitting doesn't work. It just makes people mad. We all have to trust God and be open to His leading and willing to act on His leading and in His time.

[Guest LadyC]

great post, winsome, thank you. it's all too easy to lay the focus on human weakness instead of on God's greatness, and you seem to have more cause than any to "preach" and bully about smoking.... but instead, others can see God's love, compassion, and grace working through you.

cyber-hugs to you! God is good, isn't He?

[oldzimm]

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

Be careful where you spit. In my town there used to be a law against spitting on the sidewalk because the old men chewed and most children were bearfooted... and of course TB was common in those days.

I live and work in the country, so spitting isn't really a problem. When among civilized city folks I seldom spit, but when I do spit, it isn't on a sidewalk, I usually find a bush, flower pot or some dirt for my disgusting habit.

One of my pet peeves is somebody that gets a paper cup with a paper towel in it, so they can spit, I think that is just filthy. (just my opinion)

[grandma dolittle]

besides, i have to note here that although you have no problem arguing the point about what is or is not sin, you haven't once even said anything at all about God having delivered me from smoking. seems you are much more into belittling other people than in edifying them.

when God is done working on grandma in the areas that He sees as a higher priority, He'll deal with her about the smoking. this issue is between her and God, not her and you, udx, or anyone else here.

Thank you

[Guest LadyC]

you're very welcome, grandma

[Hall7]

Someone once asked a preacher if they would go to hell if they didn't stop smoking, and his reply was that they won't go to hell but they'll probably go to heaven earlier than expected.

One of the few things I agreed totally with that I heard from Kenneth Copeland was one day when someone asked him if smokers could get into heaven...... He thought for a few seconds and then sais, " Yes they could, but I sure hope they don't stand by me..."

hahaa Good one.