Question for christian ex-smokers

[PeterVonVerkannt]

Did you quit smoking before or after your salvation?

 

[PeterVonVerkannt]

Bump ?

 

[Amber the Duskbringer]

Still in the process of quitting. Trying to go cold turkey but I may just get a pack depending on how this day goes :/ So after salvation. Kinda.

 

[freezerman2000]

way after...over 20 years after.

 

[KenE]

I got saved at age 16. I had already been smoking for 2 years at the time.
I finally quit at age 33! By this time I was smoking dope every single day!

I really did try lots of times to quit. And not just because it was out-of-vogue or because so many people advised me to, but because I realized that this was having an ongoing negative effect on my faith (and my witness).

Just when my substance & alcohol abuse were at their peak (and unbeknown to me my wife had finally decided she could no longer take the constant stress of worrying about me getting caught by the police or fired from my job and had gone to see a divorce lawyer) God intervened in a most amazing way...

My wife had asked me to take her and my 9-year old son to a church meeting on the auspicious weekend. My plan was to drop her off and head back home for a binge.

Before I could find a gap, a complete stranger stopped me (she was a visiting speaker\prophetess from abroad) and spoke so directly and deeply into my spirit that I stayed for the entire meeting!

When I returned home I placed my pack of smokes on the bedside table and asked my wife for a Bible. She handed me an old dusty Bible and I laid this on top of my smokes...

My conversation with God went something like a: "Well You know that I really need to stop smoking 'cos if I don't I'll never be able to stop smoking weed, and You know how many times and gimmicks I've tried without success. Now this lady told me that there is power in this Word of Yours, so now I'm placing this Bible between me and my weakness - this is all I can do now. I need your help to break this stronghold over my life because I just can't do it"

Well - I have lots of witnesses who will attest to the incredible result of that child-like step of faith! I was literally cured by the time I woke up the following day! I did not have my customary joint before work and arrived there to find that my ashtray had developed the most awful stench! I emptied and washed the ashtray and dirtbin and placed my smokes and lighter on my desk where they lay untouched for the entire week!

Now here is the truly amazing part; not only did God take away the urge to smoke, but up until today (which is 18 years later) I never experienced 1 minute of cold turkey!

God's timing is always perfect!

Not only did His intervention save my marriage (and produce a beautiful blue-eyed little angel of a daughter a year later), but my son, with whom I did not have a great relationship, changed from an asthmatic couch-potato into a strapping sportsman!

The reason I know this to be the Work of God was that a little later in my marriage, my wife developed problems which required a hysterectomy. The complications before and after the op meant I had to assume monkhood for over a year. During this time I was eventually in agony, but as I was in the middle of the 'sanctification and consecration' phase of my walk with God I was determined not to resort to ANY 'alternative' measures. When a talk with the family doctor (who was not a Christian) left me walking out of his surgery in disgust, I finally went on my knees and handed the entire issue over to God....

Once again, He did not fail in His promises and my marriage survived that ordeal (very well, thank you!)

So you see - God really is interested in us to the point where if we will acknowledge our utter dependence on Him, He is more than able and willing to exceed even our wildest expectations.

I hope you will be encouraged by this and will soon join the ranks of the victorious over this powerful addiction.

 

[Daughter of His]

I started and quit after I was saved.

All I can say is once you stop, try really hard not to have "just one". That didn't work for me. Watch for the improvements in your body. It's amazing and it really helps you not want to continue the addiction.

 

[Christian Warrior]

I quit after I became a soldier. Felt so convicted when hiding from other salvationists. Would be standing downtown and wondering if someone would drive by and see me.

Its been a long time now.

 

[katautumn]

Before.

 

[suzeequeue]

after salvation. the day after baptism, in fact. what a beautiful testimony, Ken E.

 

[Tremic]

Did you quit smoking before or after your salvation?

Before, but I feel I'd have given it up anyway, once I'd been saved. Plus, I'm happy to say, after nearly a lifetime of smoking, I didn't have any problem at all in just stopping smoking. No cold turkey effects. Perhaps it was God's way of nudging me along to salvation? That was six years ago now, and I haven't touched a cigarette since, nor wanted to.
I pray that others will find giving up as easy as I did.

 

[C-Man]

After. I used to smoke like a chimney. There were times I wondered if a fire truck was going to roll by and try to put my house out. >_>

 

[guitarplayer_101]

Started smoking after and quit after. Still a struggle though.

 

[KnowHisJoy77]

Did you quit smoking before or after your salvation?

After...10 years after. By the grace of God for sure, not my strength.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Way after. I quit smoking on a full time basis (every day) in 2012. Once in a great while I'll have one and it reminds me why I quit. Yuck!!

 

[Wings like Eagles]

Still working on it, cannot believe how guilty I feel. Not because I really care what others think, but for how damaging to my witness for him it is.

 

[If Not For Grace]

AFTER - I had lots of things to quit and I kept putting smoking off, I tried half-heartedly once, then again and let stress get the better off me once and finally laid em down some 25 yrs plus after salvation..Now I'm setting about getting rid of the weight I gained those 3 times and never lost...= a few pounds along the way...Sugar is also a drug it seems

 

[faroukfarouk]

AFTER - I had lots of things to quit and I kept putting smoking off, I tried half-heartedly once, then again and let stress get the better off me once and finally laid em down some 25 yrs plus after salvation..Now I'm setting about getting rid of the weight I gained those 3 times and never lost...= a few pounds along the way...Sugar is also a drug it seems

Congrats!

 

[If Not For Grace]

THANK YOU! It was a victory and I feel empowered, it also happened at just a time when I needed that.