Don't Waste Your Breath

When God created man out of the dust of the earth, He created a living, breathing being capable of thinking, feeling, dreaming, loving, and living forever (Genesis 2:7; Genesis 37:5; Genesis 29:18; 1 Corinthians 15:35-53).
It’s also important to note that when God breathed into Adam, He gave more than the breath of life — He gave him an important reason to live, and that is to worship and praise Him. As David declared in his psalm:

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6).

This means that we waste our breath when we use it for something that doesn’t honor the Lord in whom “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Our life is a gift from God, but not just our whole life, but every single instance, every breath we take. There is absolutely nothing we could do to make us take one more breath if God did not allow it. Think about that for a second! That breath you just took – and the one you are taking now – is only possible because God is letting you breathe! That’s right, it is not your right to breath, you cannot demand God to let you breath one breath longer, it just isn’t up to you. So what are you doing with that breath God is giving you right now? Are you using that breath to swear? To lie or gossip about others? Are you using it to do anything negative against a person when you should be trying to lift them up? If we adopt the mindset that as Christians we are Holy and set apart from the rest of the world and that every breath we take is meant to bring honor to God - meaning with every single breath we should be loving God and our neighbors- if we truly believed that, then how different would our actions be?

Although we cannot blow life into a handful of dirt as God did, we can use our breath to speak words of encouragement to the discouraged, help the sick (Matthew 25:36), and console those who grieve (John 11:14-19). Case in point. Recently I had a health setback where I was forced to be bedridden due to a painful nerve condition. Not only was I incapacitated and discouraged because of unbearable pain, but my spirit was lamenting being unable to sit up and fulfill my calling in writing blogs. Through my anguish, I was blessed to have friends who stepped up and continually used their breath to pray for me. Others sent cards, text's and emails of encouragement. Those little acts of love helped me through my ordeal. Through their prayers of inspiration and motivation, they were honoring God by walking in love, "Walk in love, as Christ also loved us, and has given Himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor" (Ephesians 5:2).

With our breath, we should be bringing glory to God by our actions, our words, and our attitude. If not, then we need to pray that we will start to live out the faith that we proclaim, that God would work through us in some way every moment of our day. When we use our breath to honor our Creator with the unique combination of talents, abilities, and opportunities that He has given us, we will never be wasting it. You never know how one kind word will be the one breath that lifts another person out of despair and brings honor to your Creator. John 15:12, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you." AND "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves" – Philippians 2:3

Until next time,
-Pat-