GN Commentary: January 1, 2009 - Smoking

Time to quit smoking, look after your health, and glorify God in your body!

Related Resources

Smoking and Health: The Often-Overlooked Key
We all know that smoking is devastating to one's health. Would you or a loved one like to quit for good? Where can you find the extra help to kick the habit?

My Experience With Smoking
My mother died of emphysema. My uncle died of emphysema. My grandfather died of emphysema. Emphysema is a terrible way to go.

Reasons for Not Smoking
There are many reasons not to smoke. Here are a few to consider.

Alarming Facts About Smoking Addiction
How easy is it to get hooked on tobacco?

Breaking Free From Addictions
The curse of addictions takes an enormous toll on people and society as a whole. Addictions take many forms and often are very destructive. How can a person break free?

Video Transcript

President-elect Obama says he's going to quit! Smoking, that is. He admits to smoking a few cigarettes per day during the campaign, but he says as President he will follow the rules of the White House, a non-smoking environment, and quit entirely. Here's what he had to say to Tom Brokaw on Meet the Press:

[ video clip ]

Maybe the new President will set us an example by quitting.

Smoking is linked to so many diseases and illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, respiratory diseases, emphysema, lung cancer, cancer of the mouth, cancer of the kidney, cancer of the larynx and head and neck, breast cancer, cancers of the pancreas, bladder, esophagus and stomach. Add to that stroke, and even arterial narrowing and increased risk of impotence in males. The list goes on! It's estimated that tobacco-related illnesses kill about 438,000 citizens of the United States every year, or about 1,200 every single day! The World Health Organization estimates that tobacco will kill about one billion people in this twenty-first century!

Phew! You might think all that would be enough to put anyone off smoking. But it isn't! Yes, it's true smoking rates have dropped in many parts of the developed world, such as the United States, where they still stand at about 21% in adults. But sadly they're increasing in the developing world, rising about 3.4% per year!

Even the Bible has information relating to this subject. One Scripture tells us that our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and that we are to glorify God in our body and in our Spirit, which are His! (I Corinthians 6:19-20) You can't glorify God when you damage your own health with smoking.

And add to those statistics about health risks the cost of tobacco products, which can really impact your budget. A smoker who puffs 30 cigarettes a day, at five dollars a pack, will burn through about $52.50 per week, or over $210 per month. Think what you could do with that $210 per month! How about tacking that onto your mortgage payment, and shortening the time till you own your house, free and clear.

So maybe it's time for you to follow the example of the President-elect?  Time to quit, look after your health, and glorify God in your body!

For GN Magazine, I'm Ralph Levy.