As a Christian, what are your thoughts on this article?

[czarmoney]

Well I'll put my 2 cents here too. This has actually been something I've dwelt and prayed on quite a bit during my life, since I've both grown up in a Christian home, and have a mother that has smoked for 40 years now.

The first thing is the 1 Corinthians verse used above. That verse, in context, is about sexual immorality and having sex with prostitutes. I don't think that is a fair verse to use to attack smoking.

I usually combat with this verse:
"17. "Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated ?
18. "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.
19. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
20. "These are the things which defile the man ; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man." Matt 15.

I included that last verse, because this verse is about eating "unclean animals". I think a verse about eating is more applicable to smoking than a verse about prostitution. And I hold to it being much more important what comes out of your mouth then what goes into it.

That being said, I don't think smoking is a sin. Is it bad for you? Yes. Are you better of not smoking? Yes. Can you better serve God by not smoking? There's a good chance.

The real issue, and I think Blue hit it, is if your smoking and your nicotine addiction comes before God? If it does, then you putting it before God is a sin (same w/ vaping and anything else).

Also on the matter of Wives/Husbands... That's why Paul preached he wished all Christians would remain unwed. If you're single, you have no earthly obligations to distract you from service to Him. Yet, if you are wed you have those obligations which can weigh you down. Paul also says that's his advice, and it's better to marry then cave to cravings of the flesh and so on.

 

[dgriego]

I almost always have an opinion

I do not think much of the article (or the marketing site it came from) frankly.

With smoking and many other things not specifically mentioned in Scripture, the intent of the heart is what determines whether or not an action is sinful. I cannot know the intentions of anyone's heart but my own--and even with my own I can deceive myself--so I am no capable of saying whether or not something like that is sinful.

It is the same with drinking alcohol (not drunkenness, mind you, just drinking alcohol period). It certainly *can* be sinful, but it is not sinful per se.

I think it is far more sinful to take something I do not personally do, then claim that all who do it are in sin, while overlooking my own sins. That is called "pride," and is worse than most anything else, because it is the worship of myself.

I agree

I would also add that anything that puts one in bondage is sin. We are not to be enslaved by anything other than Christ. Therefore for me smoking cigarettes has always been a struggle as I do believe I was in bondage to them. If cigarettes were withheld from me I became nervous and focused only upon where and when I would be able to get a cigarette.
I had always wished I was one of those rare folks who could smoke 3 or 4 smokes aday and be happy. I love smoking. Yet for me it was at least a pack.
So smoking can be a sin, if it controls you and places you in bondage, just like drinking can be a sin if you are in bondage to it. But neither cigarettes or drink is in itself sinful. My husband smokes cigars, maybe one or two a month. He enjoys them and yet he is not in bongage to them.
So far vaping is working well for me and my intention is to cut down on the nicotine content of what I am vaping, hopefully with time I will no longer be addicted to nicotine.

 

[Bellasin]

I don't know if smoking is a sin, there were plenty of times as I read my bible I smoked. I never thought about what I was doing, it was a true habit. Habits are mindless actions. It was possible to inhale and pray at the same time. Vaping keeps me from harming other people and my own health. It is still a habit. But essentially a harmless one. Smoking could be a sin mostly IMO from the harm to health.

I felt shame about smoking though. 4 years ago I rejoined the church and being single, I was so pulled to the life of a religioius that I spent several months in discernment for a vocation. When I was finally accepted by the convent, I ended up turning down the invitation to visit. Why? I couldn't admit I was a heavy smoker, and I could not quit overnight.

I believe now that I have to stay a layperson. Not because I vape, but because living a cloistered life would make it impossible to witness in this sad world. I still crave being with God, but now that I know I must remain in the world, I do not want to live alone anymore. Spiritual men are difficult to locate, especially where I live.

Cigarette smoking, partying and sports are the norm here and people, poor and unemployed, don't usually have credit cards or computers in order to buy ecigs online. I thank God for vaping, but feel bad for those who are still hurting their bodies with cigarettes. Smoking analogs really does hurt the human body. Smoking did affect my spiritual future, but for all I know, it was a way for God to keep me in the world.

 

[dleerl]

Cigarettes have controlled me. Therefore there is no question that my body lusts after them. It craves them. I don't control them. Certainly I have spent way too much of the Lord's money on them, hurt my body on them and in this era where people are really turned off by the smell of smoke, I offend people. Does this offend God? Is it sin? My bet is, yes. I've asked for forgiveness and I've asked for help, time and time again. Believe me He knows my struggle. I'm sure He knows all of our struggles.

People struggle with all sorts of sin. Some have sins that just don't show like ours do. Do they have victory over every one of them? They have grace, forgiveness. They will always need the blood of Christ to cover them. There is no perfection to be attained here on earth. We are being sanctified. It is a process. Some do get delivered. Some will relapse and need to start to over. Their lives are not finished They do not know what is down the road for them.

One thing I know is that I have to be wary of being cocky or becoming judgemental of those who have not yet found the freedom that I have found in Christ for I may fall down if I do. I heed that now because God taught me a good lesson once. To avoid that happening in your life, I would advise you to never take a gift that God has given to you for granted or judge someone else's walk who doesn't have that gift and think they are failing. We never know where someone is or what they have been through. Only God knows the proper order for their development. It's best to leave their walk to God. Just try to help them along. But in helping another, make sure you check it out with God first!

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God is so close, in fact, that God even hears the desires of our hearts.
~ St. Vincent Ferrer

 

[beckah54]

I have gone on mission trips, being gone 10 days at a time and cigarettes never went with me and I didn't miss them. I functioned well and they didn't occupy my thoughts. Yet, as soon as I returned home, I started smoking again.

I do feel like the ecigs will be easier to give up than cigarettes. I don't know why I keep hanging on to them.....it's been 7 months and I'm losing the feeling of enjoyment that I had when I first started. In the end, it comes down to "what do I do with my hands" if I don't smoke? I think I'll see how long I can go before I start craving the nicotine instead of puffing on the ecig all the time because I need to keep my hands busy or I'm bored. Maybe at this point, it is just habit and not need.

 

[dleerl]

Wow, that's a great place to be. Maybe you could slowly try cutting down on the nicotine. My friend that introduced me to the e-cig completely cut out nicotine and is now off the e-cig altogether. How long have you been tied to the entire smoking/e-cig routine? For me it's 50 years. I was just a really young kid. I have a lot of hope that the Lord is going to do something though. It may happen in that Celebrate Recovery program or it may be through this route, but it will happen. I know He will lead me to freedom. I am not a casual user. He does not want me trapped in a Lion's den. He will free me.

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Believe more deeply. Hold your face up to the light, even though for the moment you do not see.
--Bill Wilson

 

[beckah54]

43 years for me. The only times I have quit for more than 3 months was when I was pregnant, back in the day.
My parents were both smokers but I didn't start until I was 18. I'm 61 and still hanging on to it.

 

[richardf]

I smoked for 32 years. I hid my addiction from all of my church friends, and some of my family. It felt like what I did in my case was sinfull. It feels really good to get that monkey off my back. I actually confided in a fellow trustee last night after a meeting, telling him I had been smoke free for 30 days. It felt really good to be "honest" with him finally.

I know in my case hiding my smoking was sinfull, but it is not my place to judge anyone else, under different circumstances.

 

[5cardstud]

Well it say's your body is a temple so I guess it could be considered a sin but it also say's if we concentrate our energy and being on the lord these things will fall by the wayside. I for one try to concentrate on my sins and not others. That was one of the reasons I left the LDS religion is I always felt beneath the congregation because I smelled like an ashtray.

 

[czarmoney]

Well it say's your body is a temple so I guess it could be considered a sin but it also say's if we concentrate our energy and being on the lord these things will fall by the wayside. I for one try to concentrate on my sins and not others. That was one of the reasons I left the LDS religion is I always felt beneath the congregation because I smelled like an ashtray.

That's a big problem w/ the (or some rather) churches, the shame they (try to) burden smokers w/.

 

[LisaLisa]

Smoking is no more a sin then eating more when you are full, thinking that somebody is a jerk, or wanting your neighbors new BMW.

If you are working to try and overcome these problems, then you are doing good. I once heard an analogy that has stuck with me all of these years. It was a christian that was feeling bad about some of the things that he was doing and he was worried about not being a perfect person. He had a dream one night.

It showed a beautiful high ranking angel in all it's glory, and it also showed a homeless drunk. The angel was turned slightly to the left and loosing it's balance and starting to fall. The homeless drunk was at the bottom of a ditch and starting to crawl out on his hands and knees.

This was a powerful illustration for me and I believe this dream had a divine origin. It was showing that it's not where you've been that matters, it's where you are going that is important. The beautiful angel was falling and the drunk was rising up. I interpret this to mean that the drunk was in the favored position at that point in time.

We all have areas that need improvement, but if you're working on it, then you're doing what god expects.