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Smoking
Is it a sin to smoke cigarettes? Where is it found in the Bible?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by stillntherace on
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I'm not sure. But it does say in 1 Corinthians 3:19 that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
This is a good question. But if someone is feeling convicted of it, then prayer may be needed, being it's addiction.
I myself, do smoke, and yes I feel convicted of it. Prayer for me wanting to quit is very needed.
I hope this gave you a little insight.
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Permalink Reply by Janice K. Min on
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I am a smoker too (36yrs) but today is my last day. I have tried to quit many times before but with God's help I am going to succeed this time. The way you put it - being convicted of it - makes me even more sure. In the past I have thought of all the reasons to quit, my health & my cat's health being #1. I would pray about it but not whole heartedly because I knew in the back of my mind I would sabotage myself into smoking again. But today is different.
I am reading a book by Charles Stanley, 'How to Listen to God'. This am I got to the chapter, 'How God Gets Our Attention' and I felt He was talking directly to me and this smoking issue. I had planned to go out to get a carton of cigarettes and a feeling came over me, I felt "convicted" that I shouldn't buy any more cigarettes. I didn't try to rationalize, I just listened to what He was telling me. I put the money in my Bible where it can be used for something much better. I honestly don't have the feelings of fear, dread, loss, etc. like I have before when thinking about quitting. Before I go to bed tonight I am going to get everything that has to do with smoking out of sight, say a prayer, and wake up a non-smoker.
I will keep us both in prayer tonight and for as long as it takes for us to become non-smokers. I am behind you 100%! My doctor gave me a pamphlet with some resource material I have found helpful; maybe you will too - 1-800-QUIT-NOW / QuitlineNC.com.
Thanks for your input.
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Permalink Reply by Alan on
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Good for you sister! I'm so happy to hear that! It matters to me & i'll be praying too! My computer is broke. This is Deborah.
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Permalink Reply by Ron Payne on
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Hi Janice,
In regard to your question, Let the Bible speak for itself.
The King James version says:
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 1Cor 3:16-17 (KJV)
The International Standard Version basically says the same thing.
You know that you are God's sanctuary and that God's Spirit lives in you, don't you? If anyone destroys God's sanctuary, God will destroy him, for God's sanctuary is holy. And you are that sanctuary. 1Cor 3:16-17 (ISV)
Janice, almost everyone knows that smoking causes disease, - Lung Cancer is most well known of these - that can shorten a person's life, and that the habit can cost a smoker thousands of dollars a year. Smoking is one of many vices, where people pay hard cash to poison and kill themselves. If they only killed themselves one could say: "Serve you right!" But it is a fact that a non smoker inhaling the exhaled smoke of a smoker, is in as much danger as the smoker. This is known as Passive Smoking. That is why one may no longer smoke in a restaurant or similar places where people congregate.
Just watch a person die from Emphysema. Normally the person eventually has to be hospitalised and the condition CANNOT be reversed. Continual smoking may cause the lungs to collect fluid. As smoking continues this fluid increases in volume and slowly over the months, it takes the place of precious air. Not long and the man is fighting for air which has now been replaced by the fluid. THE PERSON LITERALLY DROWNS IN THEIR OWN FLUID. Not a pretty sight.
Your Friend in Christ - Ron.
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My mother died this way. She smoked most of her life. I cried because I couldn't be at her side when she was dying. My older sister said, "Babe, I'm so glad you won't have to carry this memory."
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Permalink Reply by El on
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Hey Rick. I quit smoking at the beginning of June after only a year & a half of addiction. Like alot of other Christians, I used to get annoyed when my friends in the church (who had never been smokers) said 'smoking is a sin' without acutally knowing why they were saying it. But now that I have quit all forms of intoxication, I'm much closer to the Lord and I realised why. Being an addiction, smoking is automatically sinful because anything that you are addicted to is an idol.
Like most smokers, I used to light one up as soon as I wake up, to satisfy the cravings and relieve any coming stress. Think about how God feels about that...but the addition stopped within 2 weeks of me attending morning prayer (at 7:00am weekdays) at my church. Suddenly, my spirit would feel week after every fag, like there was suddenly a barrier between me & God, I couldn't even pray cos my heart was so heavy. I realised then that it was a sin to do this & through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and hanging with the brothers and sisters of my church, the habit just went within about 2 weeks. Its crazy how it happened.
I guess it was easier for me having only been a regular, 'buying' smoker for 1 & a half years, compared to some of you who have smoked for over 10 years. But as long as you have a desire to know the Lord more & more intimately, you will soon be victorious, because his Holy Spirit will remove all your cravings. God bless you all & I know that he will give you victory in your personal struggles against cigarettes (& cigars). Amen!
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Permalink Reply by Nancy on
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What an interesting topic.
Yes, I smoke, too. It's a physical and spiritual battle to quit. But is smoking a sin? I have asked myself this question also. It is an addiction.
I reach for a smoke when I'm stressed when I should reach for Jesus. I smoke for pleasure when I should find pleasure in worship. The first thing I grab when I wake-up in the morning is a cigarette when I first should pray to our Lord...Jesus does come first. Now, that I think about it, if smoking takes precedence over our Lord as a dependency, then, yes, I would consider it a sin. But, if Lord is first in our lives, and we smoke sparingly, I would not consider it as a sin. Smoking is bad but no different than eating toxic food, using ingredients with toxic chemicals for personal hygiene, polluting the air, etc.
Nancy
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Permalink Reply by Pastor Bob B on
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I was saved at 15 and by then I was addicted since I was 12, I remember going to Bible camp and go a whole week without smoking and as soon I got home I was right back at it. I hated being addicted and no matter how hard I tried I could not sustain victory until I was 19 on 2-09-79. I got desparate for God and He delivered me, I was baptised in The Holy Spirit. I was never the same again and never smoked again. Smoking is something that every Christian should seek the Lord to be free from them because they are a health hazard. When I quit they were 65 cents a pack, now they are 5 dollars a pack in the US. 1 pack a day is 35 dollars a week, 140 dollars a months, thats 1680 dollars a year. Think about how that money could be used for the kingdom of God.
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Permalink Reply by lynne on
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hello, i just want to thank rick for his comment, it makes so much sense to me, and even though we need to be aware of the health dangers and the financial strain that smoking puts on us, this is where my guilt and condemnation lie because i know them too well, but other than adding guilt on top of guilt it doesnt deliver me from the awful habit, if anything the guilt makes me crave one even more! thankyou janice for starting this discussion, i am going to go and seek God for more answers,Love lynne.
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Lynne I hope what I said did not throw a guilt trip on you or anyone else. We who have been in the grip of it's hold most definaely are not throwing stones. I got set free when I went after God, not after deliverance. How many smokers end up walking away from God because of the horrible condemnation the enemy puts them. I have friends that are dealing with this, and they are haveing the same problems quitting. I have one friend who overcame a drug addiction to serious drugs and still has not overcome smoking. My brother was smoking himself to death with his 5 pack a day habit, he has been getting help from our hospital to quit, he is a new Christian and the last thing I want is to make him feel that this problem makes him unfit to come to the Lord.
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