I love Colossians 3:4. It says, “When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” I am overwhelmed when I think about Jesus being my very life. I am nothing without Him. He has blessed me with every talent and passion that I have. He created every hair on my head and every cell in my body. He breathed His life into me. What an incredible thought. The breath of Christ is what brings us to life. Knowing what we have taken in (the very breath of God), what are we putting back out into the world? In other words, we have inhaled the breath of Christ; the important question now is: “What are we exhaling?”
Our every breath is a gift from God; therefore every exhale should be filled with the love and holiness of Christ. Jesus is our life which means everything we think, say, and do should reflect who we truly are. When God looks at us, He doesn’t just see the unique and priceless individual He created, He also sees Jesus. Is that what others see as well? When the world sees us, do they see Jesus?
We look like Jesus when we allow Him to live His life through us. Because we have been given the ultimate gift of free will, it is our choice to look like Jesus or to choose to look like something we insanely perceive as more attractive. Do you hear how ludicrous that sounds? We can choose to look like Jesus or choose something better. What’s better than Jesus? If you have to even think about your answer, this may not be the blog for you. Jesus freely chose us, and if we love Him, we choose Him back. When that happens, He consumes us and our lives become His. That’s what it means to be a disciple of Christ.
For a clue on what it looks like to exhale Christ, check out the rest of the passage in Colossians (Colossians 3:5-10). We should live a life free of sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed. We should refrain from anger, wrath, malice, slander, filthy language, and lying. This isn’t some long list of things we should be telling others not to do. It’s not even a list of commandments for us. Paul is saying that when you are consumed with Christ, you won’t do these things because Jesus didn’t do those things. When we inhale Christ, we can only exhale that which is consistent with His character and being.
Perhaps it’s time for a spiritual breathalyzer test. Would the results show us fully intoxicated with the spirit of God (Ephesians 5:18)? What are we exhaling? When we are consumed with Jesus, who is our life, we will exhale love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The choice is ours. We can accept the breath of God or reject it. Be careful; your life hangs in the balance. Inhale Christ. Exhale His love and beauty.