I smoked my first stick of cigarette when I was 14 years old. It was a Marlboro. I chose Marlboro cos it was a cool brand. The cowboy and macho stuff. Ha ha…

So looking back, my initial reason to smoke was cos I wanted to look cool. Eventually it became a habit and cool became just one of the reasons.

Other reasons was that it provided a quick relief from stress, great companion with beer and while crapping. Hee hee…

Deciding to quit

Before committing to Christ, I did try to kick the habit becos it was becoming a costly habit. But all attempts failed lar… I had no motivation and saw no better alternative. Quitting seemed harder, so suffer for what sia??? Anyway I could still afford it and was enjoying it. So never mind lor…

My smoking habit was one of the stuffs that I was unwilling to give up for Christ before I committed to Him. However that changed.

The time after I had committed to Christ after being humbled by His forgiveness and grace over my sins, I was still smoking. But somehow the smoking grew less enjoyable and became repulsive. I believe it was the renewal work of the Holy Spirit destroying the cravings of the carnal flesh.

I think after a month or less, I decided to totally stop smoking as I desired to honor God and to be a good testimony to His name since I’ve chosen to follow Him. That was my motivation.

Taking the cold step

I went for the cold turkey treatment. The first week was bad and my nose went runny and all. But it was through this period that I kept praying and meditated on His Word to block off those tempting thoughts. God was with me.

The temptations were most alluring especially after meals and when I wanted to crap. During those times, I would either sucked on a sweet or read His Word. That helped practically.

So 1 week slowly became 2 and then a month and without realising much, I was finally free from this stronghold in my life. Christ conquered and took more hold of my life! Praise the Lord!

Quiting it all for God

To further add on, about a half a year later, God told me to stop drinking as well. That was really a struggle then too. But I relented almost right away as I knew what He was doing for me. He was tearing down every single stronghold of the devil that had a grip in my life and making sure they wouldn’t have a hold on me again.

For those who know, drinking and smoking are cousins. You can’t have one without the other. If you drink, you sure want to smoke. So for my case, I knew I better not drink =p

Now after 7 years, I am smoke-free but more importantly, I am free! Free to love and worship my dear God fully without restrain!

Quitting is harder, BUT not impossible in Christ cos He never quits on us.