Smoking is not compatible with living a Christian, Spirit-filled life

God has commanded us, which we strive to live Holy lives. Your body has one main purpose from God’s perspective, to “Bring Glory to God.” That means what ever you do “SHOULD” have God’s glory in mind. Smoking does not glorify God. Smoking has no good benefits and has the potential to damage the smoker’s health. Smoking Not Only Harms Ones Health It Also Destroys a Christian’s Testimony for the Lord. About 419,000 people die each year from cigarette and cigar smoking and that is only in the United States. Smoke defiles the body is readily seen. Smoking causes 20 percent of all deaths in the United States each year. Cigarette smoking is the major cause of lung disease, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis

 

. It is proven to cause cancer, heart disease and hormonal problems. Smoking is also linked to pulmonary diseases, cardiovascular disease. Many profess they love the Lord, but their defeated lives controlled by their addiction to cigarettes places a serious question mark over their professed love for Christ. Regardless of how we may try and justify it. Smoking, and spitting tobacco, is a filthy habit.

 

Apostle Paul says 2 Cor: 7:1.Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

The truth is a smoker is an addict and he is already in bondage in much the same way as an alcoholic and is spiritually defeated. We are told in the bible that , “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Some Christians harden their heart become rebellious against Gods word and who discourage them smoking who not only would not admit their sin, but let the Devil use them to defeat. Smoking becomes addictive which makes a slave out of those who use it, it is a bad witness for the Christ, it may be harmful to others, and causes for our weaker brethren to stumble.

 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22,23).

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love (2 Peter 1:5-7). Avoid temptations and shun evil companions. Read Psalm 1:1-6;

Prov.1:10-16; 1Tim.4:6-16. Keep company with God’s people and seek at all

times to help others and be a blessing to them. Rom. 12,1Corinth. 13, Col. 3:5-10

That each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable (1 Thessalonians 4:4).

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:1,2).

 

 

We are to love our children, but people who smoke are potentially harming young children. Many studies have shown that in the first two years of life, babies of parents who smoke at home have a much higher rate of lung diseases such as bronchitis and pneumonia than babies with non-smoking parents. Infants and children have tender tissues and are more susceptible to passive smoke. Acute respiratory illnesses happen twice as often to young children whose parents smoke even if they are without asthma. Passive smoke exposure is associated with 150,000 to 300,000 cases of chronic bronchitis and pneumonia in children younger than eighteen months. Exposure to smoke can cause people to develop many lung problems, such as allergies, asthma, and heart problems. A study involving children from five years-old to nine years-old showed impaired lung function in youths who had smoking parents as compared with children whose parents were non-smokers.

 

Smoking by pregnant women seems to predispose premature babies to respiratory distress syndrome. Parents who smoke at home can aggravate symptoms in some children with asthma and even trigger asthma episodes. Further children exposed to secondhand smoke can develop middle ear infections, suffer from wheezing, coughing, and worsen asthma conditions. It is quite contradictory for a parent to love their children and yet expose them to cigarette smoke and by their example are teaching their children to smoke also. With every temptation the Lord is present providing the way to escape the temptation and not sin.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves (Romans 12:10).

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing (2 Thessalonians 1:3).

Addicted to Pills? Jesus Can Help…

It’s easy to get addicted to potent and seductive prescription narcotic pain pills. They work very well for pain relief, and yet they also induce long and sustained pleasure, a pleasure we soon crave above all else in life, including sadly, Jesus Christ.

 

Yet Jesus, although we abandon Him in our selfish pursuits of artificial pleasures, never forsakes us, and when we are ready, when we see the folly of our ways and when we can take no more spiritual despair; He will take us in and show us again what’s needed for a better and Christian life.

 

We create our own problems, and we do so as we stray from God’s message, and as we walk a different path than He wishes for us. Jesus Christ does not wish us the pain of addiction, and if we listen to the message of His word in the bible, we would never need suffer the tragedy of pill abuse. Even when we ignore His will, He forgives us and when we are ready, and when we ask him to show us a better way again, Jesus Christ can guide us out of despair and once again into happy and righteous Christian Living.

 

We do not need anyone or anyplace to feel God’s love, and the bible has all we need to know about His wishes for our lives, but there is something powerful in a shared and honest prayer, and as such there is something very powerful about a Christian rehab, and working the Christian 12 steps to recovery in the fellowship of the faithful.

Christian Rehab

 

In a Christian rehab, what has proven effective in a conventional rehab is combined with what only prayer and faith can bring to our lives. God gave us medicines and doctors for a reason, and we would exhibit yet more spiritual conceit if we did not use those things in our power towards our recovery.

 

But even the best of secular rehabs, employing the finest treatments and professionals and offering the most luxurious of facilities, cannot offer much hope for long term sobriety; and relapse statistics show us this is so, and show us that the path out of addiction and despair must include Christian teachings, and prayer for a better life.

The Power of Prayer

 

In addition to secular therapies and medicines, a Christian rehab combines the power of prayer, a communal study of the bible, self reflection on God’s will for us and private religious and addictions therapy.

 

Through opening our hearts and our minds to God’s love and His will, we gain strength from temptation; and through the messages inherent in the bible, we take solace that our struggles are as old as mankind, and that God has always had the answer to our despairs.

 

We get ourselves into trouble, and Jesus pulls us out. Jesus forgives us, and He will help us, and all we need to do is ask.

 

Consider a Christian Rehab if you struggle with an addiction to prescription pills. The answers are waiting for you; God has the power to cure you. Don’t wait another day before starting down the road to a better Christian life, free from the pains of abuse.