Smoking

Answer: We are pleased to hear that you are trying to stop smoking and seeking information about God's perspective on the subject. Obviously, you recognize the fact that smoking is dangerous and harmful to your health and anyone else's who breathes any secondhand smoke. Indeed, many people have fought the same battle you are fighting. Some find it easy to stop smoking; others find that is a very powerful addiction for them and very hard to overcome.

Scripture does not mention smoking specifically. However, it deals with smoking-related issues in principle. For one, the highly addictive nature of smoking means that it becomes a spiritual enslavement. As the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 6:16, "Do you not know that to whom [or what] you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey . . . ?" Furthermore, as all credible medical authorities agree, a smoking habit will lead to the destruction of one's health. And God through Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says that taking care of our physical bodies is a spiritual responsibility.

Smoking can also be harmful to the health of innocent bystanders. And Jesus said that caring about our neighbors is also one of our highest spiritual responsibilities (Matthew 22:39-40). These scriptures and others show that Christians should not smoke.

The November-December 2002 issue of The Good News, a bimonthly publication of the United Church of God, an International Association, included a whole section about health concerns and what the Bible has to say about them. One of the sections focused on smoking, with an article titled "Smoking and Health: The Often-Overlooked Key". This article has a lot of additional information about smoking, including some points on quitting.

The last half of the article gives a number of biblical principles against tobacco use. Included in that issue of The Good News are also several smaller articles dealing with smoking that can also be found at the previously cited link. One is a personal experience with smoking and another covers some alarming facts about smoking addiction. There is also a list of reasons for not smoking. We wish you success in overcoming smoking!