Spiritual Breathing

Think about the things we do without thought such as breathing: we exhale and inhale.  In their article “Responding to God,” Life Action Ministries writes: “the process of dealing with sin in our lives is similar to the process of breathing … exhaling and inhaling.”  I greatly fear the very process of dealing with our sins has become almost extinct among Christians today.  If we go through even one day when we do not say “I’m sorry, God,” something is very wrong in our spiritual lives.  Confession is simply agreeing with God about personal pride that causes us to sin – wrong actions, words, attitudes, values, principles.  To exhale (confess) brings about the next step of inhaling – by faith – God’s forgiveness and His power to move forward in obedience.  While physical breathing is an automatic process, spiritual breathing is a discipline – something we must commit ourselves to doing regularly in order to know the sweetness of fellowship with The Father.  “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.” (Proverbs 28:13).  If you’re reading this, I know you are physically breathing, but are you practicing spiritual breathing?