"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, [SUP]20 [/SUP]for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 1 Cor. 6:19-20
Tobacco has over 5000 chemicals in it. 54 of those are known carcinogens. That means they are known to cause cancer. Nicotine addiction is the hardest to break of all addictions. People who were heroin addicts will testify that it is harder to get off cigarettes and break the nicotine addiction than heroin.
Second hand smoke, means that because of someone's addiction, I am forced to breathe all those poisons. I am deathly allergic to second hand tobacco smoke, even outside. I have been to the ER many times, because someone lit up a cigarette next to me on the street. Almost 10% of the population is allergic to tobacco, so that means that addicts are dictating who has the right to breath and where. They are causing small children to have their lives threatened, as they are the most sensitive to second hand smoke.
Finally, tobacco turns the lungs into a black coal like colour. They become brittle and hard. They get sick with cancer and other diseases. Tobacco smoke also contributes to all kinds of other cancer in the body.
[h=3]How Is Smoking Related to Cancer?[/h]
Smoking can cause cancer and then block your body from fighting it:[SUP]
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- Poisons in cigarette smoke can weaken the body’s immune system, making it harder to kill cancer cells. When this happens, cancer cells keep growing without being stopped.
- Poisons in tobacco smoke can damage or change a cell's DNA. DNA is the cell's "instruction manual" that controls a cell's normal growth and function. When DNA is damaged, a cell can begin growing out of control and create a cancer tumor.
Doctors have known for years that smoking causes most lung cancer. It's still true today, when nearly 9 out of 10 lung cancers are caused by smoking cigarettes. In fact, smokers have a greater risk for lung cancer today than they did in 1964, even though they smoke fewer cigarettes. One reason may be changes in how cigarettes are made and what they contain.[SUP]
5[/SUP]Treatments are getting better for lung cancer, but it still kills more men and women than any other type of cancer. More than 7,300 nonsmokers die each year from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke.[SUP]
6[/SUP]Smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body, including the:[SUP]
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- Mouth, nose, and throat
- Larynx
- Trachea
- Esophagus
- Lungs
- Stomach
- Pancreas
- Liver
- Kidneys and ureters
- Bladder
- Colon and rectum
- Cervix
- Bone marrow and blood (leukemia)
Women smokers with breast cancer and men with prostate cancer who smoke may be more likely to die from these diseases than nonsmokers.[SUP]
5[/SUP]Smokeless tobacco also causes cancer, including cancers of the:[SUP]
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- Esophagus
- Mouth and throat
- Pancreas
CDC - Smoking and Cancer - Diseases & Conditions - Tips - Smoking & Tobacco Use
Here is a short link on what a healthy lung, versus a smoker's lung looks like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wsXee9SZ04
So going back to my opening Bible verse - if we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, should we not be taking care of our body? We should stay away from addictive substances which poison our body. We need to honour God in our bodies.
So yes, smoking is a sin, and it is wrong. It is against God's laws to poison yourself and the people around you. Ask God to help you break this terrible habit, and I know he will help you. I have never smoked, but my husband did. When he came to Christ, he totally gave it up, in one day! Praying you make the step of understanding how bad and wrong smoking is and that you are able to quit.