cigarettes?

[Sarah G]

So you don't think you'll start again now?

Never say never. The pendulum keeps swinging. When I make endeavours to quit, eradicate, restrict, purge, eliminate or erase something in one area of my life other things will spring up to replace them. Sometimes those things seem worse, less convenient or more destructive than the thing I banished and I go full circle and begin the first thing again. This phenomenon has happened many times in my life with many things. When I go too far in one way, whether that be alcohol, Bible study, meditation, spending, vanity, exercise, laziness, work, smoking or asceticism a reaction always comes. So, I never say never because I know myself and my ways pretty well. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall

 

[JIMINZ]

Never say never. The pendulum keeps swinging. When I make endeavours to quit, eradicate, restrict, purge, eliminate or erase something in one area of my life other things will spring up to replace them. Sometimes those things seem worse, less convenient or more destructive than the thing I banished and I go full circle and begin the first thing again. This phenomenon has happened many times in my life with many things. When I go too far in one way, whether that be alcohol, Bible study, meditation, spending, vanity, exercise, laziness, work, smoking or asceticism a reaction always comes. So, I never say never because I know myself and my ways pretty well. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall

.
Hi Sarah

I just wanted to give you some knowledge I gained long ago, that can help you in the future.

We are Dead to the Law, that means we have been Freed indeed by Jesus.

Whenever we say I am going to Quit, or I am Not going to do this or that, you have in effect set up a Law, and as we all know, humans by their nature, are very adapt at breaking Laws.

Jas 4:15,16
15) For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, and do this, or that.
16) But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

God Bless in you goings.

 

[Sarah G]

.
Hi Sarah

I just wanted to give you some knowledge I gained long ago, that can help you in the future.

We are Dead to the Law, that means we have been Freed indeed by Jesus.

Whenever we say I am going to Quit, or I am Not going to do this or that, you have in effect set up a Law, and as we all know, humans by their nature, are very adapt at breaking Laws.

Jas 4:15,16
15) For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, and do this, or that.
16) But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

God Bless in you goings.

Thank you for this. I would really like to get to a place of seeing every single thing as being Christ's arrangement. I can do nothing apart from Christ (John 15:5). I am not sure though if everything is Christ's arrangement or if Satan does things? So, when my cold water tap broke beyond use this morning and I thought 'Okay, this is Christ's arrangement, no need to have a meltdown' is it Christ's arrangement or is Satan trying to push me over the edge of sanity and cause strife and tribulation in my household? Should I be thanking Christ for causing me tribulation that brings me closer to Him or rebuke Satan for his irritating shenanigans?
I suppose I should make a thread about it but then I will get 20 different answers of course.

In James 4, before the verses you quote it says,
''11 Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. 12 God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbour?''

so then I wonder if we are really dead to the law or if James believed that followers of Christ are dead to the law?

Either way I really would like, if it were God's will, to be so fully surrendered that I could see everything as being Christ's arrangement and every good thing I do as being Christ at work in and through me. Maybe though, this desiring of things, even spiritual advancement or sanctification, is just more bondage, desire and covetousness.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Never say never. The pendulum keeps swinging. When I make endeavours to quit, eradicate, restrict, purge, eliminate or erase something in one area of my life other things will spring up to replace them. Sometimes those things seem worse, less convenient or more destructive than the thing I banished and I go full circle and begin the first thing again. This phenomenon has happened many times in my life with many things. When I go too far in one way, whether that be alcohol, Bible study, meditation, spending, vanity, exercise, laziness, work, smoking or asceticism a reaction always comes. So, I never say never because I know myself and my ways pretty well. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall

Sarah G: Some good thoughts! although I wouldn't link it with too much Bible study!

Good to quit and stay quitted; it is a known source of temporary relief from stress, although probably not the best and can be harmful especially to excess.

But I wouldn't 'moralize' against other ppl though if they even smoke lightly. Spurgeon the preacher was among other things a smoker and he was a great servant of God.

 

[faroukfarouk]

@Sarah G In short, don't beat yourself up if it happens.

 

[W2L]

Cigarette smoke comes out of the mouth...into the air that other people breathe. It is full of dangerous toxins. It is defiling. Why should I have to breathe someone else's second hand, dirty, dangerous, smoke?

The Lord was referring to what comes from the heart. Does cigarette smoke come from the heart?

 

[W2L]

I wonder if people smoked in the time of the apostles. The apostles never say anything about smoking.

 

[Sarah G]

@Sarah G In short, don't beat yourself up if it happens.

That is a nice thing to hear, actually, brother. Not that I expect to be smoking any time soon but I am dealing with another issue which has brought to light the fact that I am not perfect nor am I superhuman. There is always the temptation to beat ourselves up I suppose and it is a horrible thing because we would surely have compassion and forgiveness for others, even our 'enemies', yet we talk to ourselves like sergeant majors on steroids or something. Thank you for the reminder that I should show as much compassion to myself as I would show to those I love! It has turned my evening around actually, God bless you.

 

[faroukfarouk]

That is a nice thing to hear, actually, brother. Not that I expect to be smoking any time soon but I am dealing with another issue which has brought to light the fact that I am not perfect nor am I superhuman. There is always the temptation to beat ourselves up I suppose and it is a horrible thing because we would surely have compassion and forgiveness for others, even our 'enemies', yet we talk to ourselves like sergeant majors on steroids or something. Thank you for the reminder that I should show as much compassion to myself as I would show to those I love! It has turned my evening around actually, God bless you.

YW; and in fact you may well choose not to inhale, which however does relax. Blessings.

 

[faroukfarouk]

When I was HS age, liked to smoke cigars and cigarettes. Then I became a Christian, and threw my supplies in the garbage. Haven't smoked since, so there is hope to quit. I was sort of forced to quit though, since I wasn't old enough to buy more tobacco products. Maybe I wasn't fully addicted yet, I don't know. At the time I felt it was a serious sin against God's creation. I no longer believe that, but it did help me to quit. Probably not a helpful post, wanted to share my experience.

Glad you were able to quit.

 

[elytron]

Glad you were able to quit.

My Grandma was also able to quit. I was surprised when my Mom told me she used to smoke. Quit long before I was born apparently, sadly she is no longer with us.

 

[faroukfarouk]

My Grandma was also able to quit. I was surprised when my Mom told me she used to smoke. Quit long before I was born apparently, sadly she is no longer with us.

So why were you surprised that she smoked? was it because your mom herself didn't smoke?

 

[elytron]

So why were you surprised? was it because your mom herself didn't smoke?

My Mom and Dad don't smoke. I was surprised because it's so difficult to quit some times. I never saw her smoke even one puff while she was here.

 

[faroukfarouk]

My Mom and Dad don't smoke. I was surprised because it's so difficult to quit some times. I never saw her smoke even one puff while she was here.

In the early to mid 20th century it became very widespread for women to smoke. I guess this is why I'm not surprised when you said you'd discovered that your grandmother did.

 

[faroukfarouk]

PS: @elytron Years ago there were even classes in some places specifically to teach women how to smoke: http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/tobaccocontrol/9/1/3/F4.large.jpg

 

[Vicomte13]

i smoke cigarettes and I’m a Christian
But I don’t get convicted to disciplined because of them
Any other sin you name it there’s conviction, but not for cigarettes, what should I do ? Please help

Smoking cigarettes is not a sin. If you keep at it, it will probably shorten your life. That's a practical consideration that is, likewise, true of eating smoked foods, too much sodium, vegetables grown with pesticides, living in cities where the air is polluted, drinking water that has too much chlorine in it, using the cell phone excessively, etc., etc.

None of those things are sins either.

So, if you're not "convicted" over cigarette smoking, you should not expect to be: it's not a sin. If somebody tells you it IS a sin, he's making it up.

Stop smoking cigarettes, because they're not healthy. Switch to cigars, and then smoke fewer and fewer of them until you're just saving them for special occasions like holidays and promotions. Then you can have a little bit of tobacco without wrecking your health. Cigarettes WILL wreck your health over time, but they're not sinful.

 

[faroukfarouk]

That is a nice thing to hear, actually, brother.

PS: Guilt manipulation - e.g., of smokers - is probably not really such a characteristic of a lot of Christians in The Netherlands, I think, who are more likely to be hearty, live-and-let-live people; the guilt-manipulative side would probably come more from secularists or North American fundamentalists.

Everyone is different.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Switch to cigars, and then smoke fewer and fewer of them until you're just saving them for special occasions like holidays and promotions.

I think @Sarah G is concerned about continuing to abstain completely; but you're right: being an occasionally smoking woman can mean participating in the social aspect of it, rather than necessarily being driven by addiction.

A lot of ppl do see it as wise to be completely quit, though, and this logic is understandable.

 

[Vicomte13]

I think @Sarah G is concerned about continuing to abstain completely; but you're right: being an occasionally smoking woman can mean participating in the social aspect of it, rather than necessarily being driven by addiction.

A lot of ppl do see it as wise to be completely quit, though, and this logic is understandable.

It IS wise to completely abstain from tobacco. Absolutely, hands down, no down. Cigarettes will age you, wreck your gums, wreck your skin, wreck your hair, wreck your lungs. It's just a matter of time. They're not good for you.

But it is not a SIN to smoke cigarettes - that was my theological point. "What I don't like", and "What is bad for me" does not equal "sin". Sins are what God said are sins. Not what can be inferred from the margins are sins - that's adding to God's law. Cigarettes are not sins. Not mortal sins, and not venial sins. A cigarette smoker does not have to confess having smoked before taking communion any more than somebody has to confess eating a super-sized Big Mac meal (that's not good for you either, unless you're starving in Africa (which you're not)). Big Macs and Marlboros are not healthy. But they're not sins.

It takes discipline to eat healthy, and it takes discipline to quit smoking.
It ALSO takes discipline not to engage in the simple (but wrong) mental fillip of thinking that everything one doesn't like or that is dangerous is some sort of sin. Skydiving is dangerous. It's not a sin.

The real sins are obvious, and hard to resist as it is. We don't need to proliferate the sins beyond what God revealed and go finding sin under every bed and in every closet.

Just not lying and being sexually moral all the time are more than most people can handle when it comes to avoiding sin. We do not need to ladle on additional guilt for "sins" such as smoking cigarettes to handle stress. That's not a sin.

 

[Sarah G]

Please stop talking about me and leave me alone, thank you.