Christian Message Boards: Smoking Cigarettes

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Posted by MentorsRiddle (Member # 2108) on :

Well, as of tomorrow I will not have smoked a cigarette for a MONTH and a HALF!

I was a smoker for about 7 years at about a pack and a half a day.

Honestly, I never noticed any problems smoking was causing me while I was a smoker; besides the short of breath thing experienced by all smokers.

But, I finally decided to quit smoking and am now smoke free.

Mainly I decided to write this post for the smokers out there.

When I was a NON-SMOKER, I remember I used to tell my smoker friends, “Just quit. Stop smoking. It’s all in your head and you can quit anytime you want to.”

Boy, oh boy how wrong I was… Once I became a smoker myself… I realized how very quickly they take a hold of you and how addictive they are…

I just didn’t understand… it was hard to quit smoking.

Once I became a smoker, I realized that a majority of EX-Smokers seemed to be bigger pushers of stopping smoking than NEVER-SMOKED-SMOKERS.

I just didn’t understand…

But now I understand why EX-SMOKERS push quitting so much: BECAUSE THEY UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH IT HURTS YOUR BODY NOW.

Let me just run down a list of symptoms I had once I quit.

1. Anxiety
2. sadness
3. chills
4. coughing
5. tightness of chest
6. aching lungs
7. problems sleeping
8. pains all over my body
9. cramps
10. some nasty things you probably don’t wanna hear about.

That’s just a small list.

Basically, God finally allowed me to quit smoking….

And now, because God helped me. I want to help others.

If you have any questions or concerns.. Please ask me.

I want to start a support group to help people quit smoking.

If you want to quit. I have lots of helpful ways to help you quit.

Well, that’s it. I just wanted to share my testimony there.

Posted by becauseHElives (Member # 87) on :

[thumbsup2]

good for you

Yahweh's blessings
dale

Posted by KnowHim (Member # 1) on :

This is great!

I am also an X-smoker. Been so for over 15 years now. Yes it was God whom help me quit!

.

Posted by MentorsRiddle (Member # 2108) on :

Thanks for the comments.

I wonder sometimes how I ever started smoking -- or how I was ever so dumb as to start smoking.

That sutff certainly did a number one me.

I'm just happy God allowed me to quit.

Posted by Southpaw (Member # 7676) on :

Praise God.

Yes I am a smoker and have been praying for the strength to quit. I have quit many times before, Tried Cold Turkey, Patches, Gum etc. I would love to get involved with your support group.

Posted by MentorsRiddle (Member # 2108) on :

Well,

To be honest, I quit cold turkey, and now my motivation to stay quit is all of the withdrawls I went through -- I never want to go through them again.

Ever...

Once you have quit for about 2 months you begin to really realize how much those things effected your body in a negative way.

There were times I was actually afraid for my life when I was comming off them. Thinking that there was something seriously wrong with my body.

I never realized just how much my body was poisoned by the smokes.

It really helps to pray about it, and find motivation for it.

I was so scared when I was quitting -- and it was really hitting home with how stupid I was to have smoked for so long.

I knew they were bad for me, but didn't really realize how much.

I hope you can stop.

Something things I did to help me was:

Quit cokes/soft drinks

drink only water for about a week before I began to quit.

While quitting I ate lots of veggies and fruits.

And kept bags of baby carrots with me to munch on to keep my hands and mouth occupied... Supprising how much it helped with the cravings.

IT didn't take them away but gave me something to do while I was craving them really bad.

I hope you can quit... I really do.

I am afraid for all smokers out there, because I really know now how bad it hurts you.

Posted by Southpaw (Member # 7676) on :

thank you for the tips

First thing is first. Ask and your joy will be given to you. (John 16:24)

Our Church has healing rooms. I will see if I can get in for prayer on this issue.

God bless you in Jesus name

Posted by Michael Harrison (Member # 6801) on :

Until I was saved I smoked a pack plus, every day. I liked Marlboros. But when I was saved, it was three days before I had realized that I hadn't smoked. HE took it away.

And I remember it ever so clearly. I was at International House of Pancakes with 'old' friends when I had a desire to smoke. It had been months since I had been freed. And I didn't have to give in to this temptation. But I was backsliding. I lit up.

It was a few years before I threw myself back at HIS feet. I was 'repenting' and seeking restoration. It wasn't going to be a free ride this time though. HE wasn't going to 'snap' away the desire to smoke. But I knew that few truly yielded Christians smoked. So I had to ditch it.

I went cold turkey. I planned a hike into my lovely mountains which I frequented. I planned to stay the weekend. I was alone. I left the cigarettes behind.

Hiking up the trail told on me. My lungs were expanding till I thought they would tear, as they were overworked trying to sustain me. My heart beat like mad as if trying to outdo my lungs. That was how I made the first step.

I'm thinking that the lung exercise made it easier to continue. It may have helped get me over the hump.

I had resolve. Because I was motivated. I was motivated by desiring to be close to the Lord. I was motivated by the realization that my health was important. I mean, you hear people say that if they had nothing at all, they had a lot, if they had their health. So I knew that it had to be final. I knew that if I picked up a cig, I was defeated. The act of compromise steals one's resolve, and that is totally dangerous.

So, I focused in front of me, at an imaginary goal, or milestone. And to this day I insist, without repentance, that 'cold-turkey' is the only way to quit. One has to break with the habit. And he might as well accept the fact that he will have to suffer some pain. Some people lose resolve because they don't factor that in! But there is a painful period, yet, any dummy can figure out that it is of limited duration. Those who don't figure that out, they lose resolve also. So, when you recognize that something is wrong, quit! Break with it. Focus. Find something else to occupy you, and dodge situations where you will be tempted by others who don't share the same value.

I know that it has to be harder for someone, say a husband or a wife, who wants to quit, but the other partner smokes. But this one will have to grit the teeth harder and dive in realizing, that any compromise is not slight. It is huge. So, no compromise!