Tell family, friends, and co-workers that you plan to quit.
Let your friends and family in on your plan to quit smoking and tell them you need their support and encouragement to stop. Look for a quit buddy who wants to stop smoking as well. You can help each other get through the rough times.
If you have a strong enough reason to quit your addiction you will succeed in quitting. To aid you through your high temptation periods you need a list of activities that you can do as a substitute for smoking. Idea’s include exercise, play a game, spend time with friends and read something spiritual. Remember that growing spiritually is often helpful in fighting addiction.
One trait that all people with addictions have is that we have the habit of giving up. Work is harsh, relationships stink, money is elsewhere and a list of a million other problems get us down. So we tell ourselves that we have the right to go back to our addiction. We can’t fight back anymore. One of the reasons I recommend daily Bible reading is because of people from the Bible like Paul. His reaction to problems was the opposite of ours – he never gave up. He always fought to the end. When he was whipped and put in chains he praised God and sang so heartily that God just couldn’t resist breaking him out of jail. He was stoned (at that time in history sometimes groups of people would throw large stones continuously at someone in an effort to kill them. Through every trial he never gave up – he kept fighting. 2 Corinthians 11:27 talks about Paul’s tribulations: In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Instead of giving up, Paul always had the habit of fighting through problems. Develop the habit of never giving up and of fighting through problems. Because Paul always kept fighting he always won and he always had joy and he will always be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Write out your own list of substitute activities.
During intense temptation have a list of coping statements. Something like – smoking has caused me destruction, it has in the past and it will in the future if I don’t quit. Or, This temptation will go away if I don’t act on it. If I give in, it will return and it may be even stronger next time. If I don’t give in it will go away and someday it will go away for good. I have the self control to change.
Use temptation situations as a way to work on problems. First of all identify what sequence of events lead up to you craving smoking? Your problem sequence may be that you get mad at your partner or family member. You are bored with life anyways and off you go.
You need to know the normal sequence of events that lead you to smoking.
In advance you need to have written idea’s of what you will do instead. Now when the severe temptation comes you can use it as an opportunity to work on these other problems.
For example; if anger is a trigger pray about that. What is your trigger? Pray and plan on how you can defuse it.
Read Proverbs 2.
Continue to read the Purpose Driven Life.
If you are on track great; if not read the red letters from day 5
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
If you want to quit smoking pray to be filled with the Spirit. Pray as you go to sleep, pray when you wake up. Pray Father fill me with your love, fill me with your Spirit, help me to avoid sin, show me my purpose. Make helping poor people as one of your ministries. Pray for every person who visits this website. Pray that no one who ever visits this site will ever commit suicide. Pray that people will understand that it is sometimes a long process from them doing their own thing to opening up to God’s love and doing His thing. Pray that people will be saved.
Fear can sometimes lead to refusing to face the pain of quitting an addiction. The Bible says in 2nd Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. When we start to be filled with the Spirit this verse starts to come true overcoming this emotion as well as other harmful emotions.
1. Checklist for avoiding relapse: Have an all consuming goal that will help other people, give you something new to think about instead of smoking and that will use up some of the time you used to spend on your addiction.
Matthew 5 is about how we can change so that we will start to be blessed by God. www.relijournal.com noted the following
The Fifth Beatitude v7
God blesses those who are merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Mercy is love toward those that need some sort of support, especially in the area of forgiveness. God shows us mercy. We need His mercy every day because were are not perfect and we sin daily. If God is willing to give us mercy then we should be happy to extend mercy to others. In the Lord’s Prayer we say, “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”. We must forgive and show mercy if we expect God to do the same for us.
Pride prevents God showing us mercy and us showing mercy to others. Self righteousness brings about pride and prevents us from learning from God because it puts a barrier up straight away. Ephesians 5:1-2 talks about following Jesus’ example in showing mercy by living a life of love. The Old Testament speaks on it too (Psalm 41:1 and more!)
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Thank you for reading day 10 of this program to get free from smoking.
Index
Day 1 Overcoming cravings
Day 2 Why can’t you quit
Day 3 Start a Journal
Day 4 Overcoming negative emotions
Day 5 You can’t increase your pleasure for the month by smoking
Day 6 Control your emotions and plan your day
Day 7 Learning how to worship God is a key to overcoming addiction
Day 8 Develop positive addictions
Day 9 How to get help from the Holy Spirit
