• Respect for the Gift of Life
    True Peace and Security—How Can You Find It?

    • Use of Tobacco and Similar Products

      19. Why does respect for the gift of life enter into one’s view toward use of tobacco, betel nut, and the leaves of the coca plant?

      19 More common today is the use of tobacco and, in some lands, betel nut and coca leaves. Each damages the body and, in some cases, the mind.

  • Respect for the Gift of Life
    True Peace and Security—How Can You Find It?

    • Does it show respect for the gift of life to use such addictive and harmful products?

      20, 21. (a) Does the fact that the Bible does not condemn such habits by name mean that they are all right? (b) What Bible principles show that such habits have no place in the life of a servant of God?

      20 One might say that these things are all God’s creation. True, but so are mushrooms. Yet some varieties prove fatal if eaten. Another might say that the Bible does not specifically condemn such habits. No, but, as we have seen, there are many things not specifically condemned in the Bible that are obviously wrong. The Bible nowhere specifically forbids using a neighbor’s backyard to dump garbage. Yet its command to “love your neighbor as yourself” should be enough for any of us to recognize how wrong that would be.

  • Respect for the Gift of Life
    True Peace and Security—How Can You Find It?

    • 21 At 2 Corinthians 7:1 God’s Word tells us to “cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in God’s fear.” For something to be “holy” means for it to be “clean, untarnished, uncorrupted.” Jehovah keeps himself clean from corruption, never lowering himself to act in an unholy manner. Rightly he expects us to continue “perfecting holiness” to the extent possible for humans. (Romans 12:1) Also, he expects us to ‘love him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ But how can anyone do this if he indulges in practices that defile his body, damage his health, and shorten his life?​—Mark 12:29, 30.

      22. What can enable a person to break the hold that such a bad habit may have on him?

      22 Though one or another of such habits may seem to have a stranglehold on a person, he can overcome it and gain freedom. Knowledge of God and his purposes provides a powerful motivation for doing so. A person can ‘be made new in the force actuating his mind.’ (Ephesians 4:23) This will open up a new way of life that results in personal contentment and honors God.