Victory over Bad Habits
By Bertha Selmon, M.D.
"I FEEL exceedingly grateful to you for your kind advice regarding cigarette smoking. I need such advice very much. I know the evil consequences of the habit, and I feel them very keenly. I realize that it is a shame for a young man like me to smoke. I feel the shame most when I am in the presence of men of high moral principles, and my conscience always hurts me when I think of this weakness, which, honestly speaking, has kept me from saying and doing many things I otherwise would have done. My soul therefore has been fighting a hard battle with my flesh, and so far the latter has been victorious. The advice you have given me, however, has greatly strengthened the former; and, strange to say, owing perhaps to some mental peculiarity, the cigarette has entirely lost its former taste; nay, it makes me very uncomfortable after a few puffs now. When I told this to my wife, she said, 'Dr. Selmon is praying for you.' I believe you do, and can assure you that before long I will stop smoking altogether. This is my determination, but I am weak. I would ask you to pray for me, and give me some suggestions as to what would be best to take to tone up my system a little." The above is an extract from a letter just received from a young business man here in Shanghai. He has an excellent education, and, as will be seen from his letter, has good use of English. He has always been most grateful for service we have rendered in his home. In the matter of his tobacco habit, we have dealt with the moral side of it, and as a result he has several times made inquiry concerning the gospel and its power to keep a man from being the slave of bad habits.