Breath of Life Testimony: Jack

My mentors name is Bill Master. I still remember the very first cigarette that I smoked! I was 13. My 15-year-old brother and I sneaked across the road from our house, hid in the school bus that my oldest brother, drove and we smoked a very strong non-filtered cigarette. I was sick for hours afterward, but I was proud because I had done something 'cool.' Thus began a pattern of deceit and lying that would keep me walking in the shadows for the next 40+ years. What began as a very small act of rebellion, later became 'chains of steel.' I continued smoking throughout my teens, twenties and thirties. Sometime in my late thirties to early forties, I knew that I needed to stop smoking. I was an elementary school teacher, a deacon in our local church and worked with the children's program. I knew that smoking was not a good influence. So instead of trying to quit, I began to "hide" my addiction. It was soon evident that I needed to quit. I prayed, asking God to remove this from me. I tried to quit on my own. I went to a hypnotist. I tried patches and gum. I tried prescription medicine. Nothing worked. I was desperate. I was in a situation where I had to hide my smoking from everyone that knew me, my wife, my family, my friends, and my employer. For about two years I did this. I became very good at deceit, at lying, at sneaking away to smoke. But the guilt and the shame were increasing. What started out as a small act of rebellion had grown into a monster that I could not control. I literally planned my day around when I could smoke a cigarette. But praise God! He did in an instant what I could not do in a lifetime! When my sin of deceit and lying became known, my wife was devastated. But through honest confession to God, to my wife and several friends, through repentance and asking for forgiveness, God set me free. Jesus broke the 'chains of steel' that had bound me so tightly. I then went to a Christian counselor who assisted me in setting up a program of accountability that would help to continue the work that God had begun. One part of the program was the 'Breathe of Life' course. This Bible study was instrumental in my continued freedom. The spiritual truths that this study brought to me daily helped me remain strong, focusing on Jesus, what He had done, continues to do and will do in my life. I am so full of joy now that I am free from this bondage. Words can never express my gratitude for what my Savior did for me and continues to do for me each day! Thank you, Jesus, for setting this captive free from bondage!