I was recently told about a Christian who was attempting to witness to an agnostic. This Christian told the agnostic that God even gives me the money to buy my cigarettes. Now people, God does not give us the money we need to support our habits and addictions. Satan may give us the money to support our addictions, but God does not. God would tell us to take all that money we spend on our cigarettes (about $5.00 a pack now I think), and give it to the poor. And the same goes for any other addictions we may have like coffee (the Christian’s drug of choice), alcohol, pornography, etc. God would certainly not want to support a habit that is physically or emotionally unhealthy for us and our neighbors. God’s Word tells us to love our neighbors as we love our selves. The last time I walked through the doors at the local mall, I couldn’t get in the doors without engulfing a cloud of smoke, and nearly choking to death on it. No, God does not give us the money to buy our cigarettes!
Now, I myself have been convicted recently about my coffee habit once again, due to some urinary tract health issues. I had been stopping on occasion at the local Sonic to get one of those specialty frosty coffee drinks at about $2.50 a pop, and I was up to about a pot a day at home. Now that’s a lot of coffee. Too much! So I’m on day 4 of a 40 day coffee fast. I completed one once before, failed another one miserably, and am now embarking on a third 40 day fast. God help me break this coffee habit! Now if we take all those $2.50’s and $5.00 and tithe at church, give it to the poor, or even buy something we really need, like a gallon of milk instead, we would be serving God much better, and loving ourselves much better than if we simply serve ourselves with these unhealthy habits. If we don’t have enough money to pay our 10% tithe, give some to the poor, and buy our groceries, then we have no business buying things that only support unhealthy addictions.
One the other hand, I have recently been on the receiving end of a very generous Christian lady. I had been trying to finish up my Masters Degree in Christian Counseling these last two months, and had very little income, when this God-sent lady bought us about a hundred dollars worth of groceries twice, filled up my car in gas several times, bought my severely expired car tag, and had my car serviced. And this was not at my request, but at her insistence. Now being a single parent, who am separated from my husband at this time, this was such a God send. It made life a whole lot easier as I studied and took my final exams without having to worry about where our next meal was coming from. It was quite humbling for me, but this lady doesn’t just talk the talk, she walks the walk and puts her money where her mouth is. Now this is a true Christian we could all make an example of.
We can always tell how faithful we are to God, by looking at our checkbooks, and expenditures. Are we paying our tithes to the church, are we giving to other charities or helping the poor in addition to that, or are we instead supporting our own selfish habits and addictions? We are responsible to God for how we spend our money, for how we care for our sisters and brothers, and for how much of our time and money we use to support our own selfish behaviors. None of us are perfect and we all have bad habits we need to break, so I challenge all who read this to pick one thing you need to be set free from and go on a 40 day fast from it for God, for yourself, and for your sisters and brothers in Christ. No, God does not give us the money for our cigarettes, our coffee, our excess food, our alcohol, our pornography, our gambling, or any other self-and-other-destructive addictions! God bless you all on your endeavors!
