Smoking.

meh dont start
I dont really have much sympathy for smokers. If they want to smoke dont do it in my face. please.
Cos I dont wanna breathe it.

This is like saying, "When someone with a better track record than King David tells me that adultery affects Christians spiritually, I will listen. I won't agree, because I know better."

It's just a different sin, and all sin affects us spiritually.

You are certainly free to believe that smoking has no spiritual affect, but it obviously harms the body, and God commands us to take care of our bodies, which are the very temples He chooses to live in.

Now of course, I don't think that smokers should be shunned or condemned at all. One of my best friends is a heavy smoker, and I worry that she will suffer the same fate as my older relative because of it, but I love her dearly and would never turn my back on her. But I could also never live as a roommate in the same household with her because I am very allergic to the smoke and that would be causing me self-harm.

You of course are free to believe any way you want, but I personally believe that any form of harm, especially those we choose to do to ourselves (whether someone else's smoking or my own binge eating) most definitely affects us spiritually.

If the subject didn't affect you spiritually (even if you are a non-smoker,) I would highly suspect you wouldn't even feel a need to write such a thread.

The obvious fact that this bothers you so much is an indication of how much the very subject affects your spirit.

if someone really doesnt want to be free you cant make them either.

sometimes you gotta use a bit of tough love. Like when Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery GO and sin no more. Do you think she listened or went right back to doing it?

Sis you know I always appreciate your perspective, you're always very balanced in your posts. While I understand what some are saying here, I have 10 cents to put in. When I grew up I felt the same way about smokers, only sinners smoked and it was a nasty habit. I was very firm in that belief for many years until I moved to the south where tobacco is like a vegetable around here. Just about everyone smokes. It's getting a little better in the past few years. But plenty of Christians smoke down here and they don't really have a second thought about it. It's like going to Italy and telling them it's a sin to drink wine! I don't drink myself, and I don't think Christians should drink unless they can do so without being "buzzed". A lot of people would disagree with me on that. Drinking is an addiction, just like smoking and every bit as destructive. And the thing is, you don't know you're an alcoholic until the first drink.

My husband is a smoker. He grew up in the south and started at a very young age. His dad left the home when he was very young. Once he became a teen he took up smoking, it became a security blanket. For those who say it's a nasty habit, and make harsh comments about it, put yourself in that persons place. My husband has cut way back on smoking but is having trouble giving it up entirely. He feels it calms his anxiety, which he had from a very young age when his father abandoned his mother and started a new family with another woman. When we met he was very open about his trouble with smoking. He tried vaping, but too many places didn't allow it. He tried pills, but they gave him violent nightmares. He tried the patch and it gave him terrible headaches. We are still seeking a way to help him quit completely. We as Christians need to be a little more understanding of peoples struggles. A person who smokes doesn't have a demon, which has been posted in another thread. A person who smokes can be a Christian. Is smoking a nasty habit, yes, so is gossip. Should Christians smoke? No, I don't think it's a good thing to do. My husband continually harps on the ills of smoking to my nephews. So I'm just suggesting people take a look at the other side. People use food, drink, pills to cope in life. So lets have a bit more grace for people and pray that these addictions will be broken.

Yup, the whole point of my posts was that smoking is like any other sin.

It's not something that should be judged any harsher than other sins, nor should smokers be treated without compassion and understanding.

I've had several people in my life whom I love dearly who were or are heavy smokers.

Like any sin that all of us hold on to, the sin has to be continued to be seen as sin, but we must love and encourage those who struggle with it, just as we hope others will also treat us as we fight our own pet sins.