Exhale, Inhale

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
-Galatians 5:25-

The teaching of Bill Bright, co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, has helped me learn to become a follower of Christ who is filled with the Spirit. He taught a spiritual exercise called “spiritual breathing.” The basic idea is that you learn to live with a moment-by-moment awareness of the Spirit until walking in the Spirit becomes as natural as breathing. It just becomes a part of who you are.
Here’s how it works: The moment you become aware of an area of sin in your life, you exhale. When you exhale, you breathe out the impurity of your sin and repent of it. Repentance becomes a natural response, clearing out space in your heart for the Spirit to fill you. The moment you become prideful, jealous, lustful, harsh, selfish, dishonest, impatient, etc. — you exhale and repent on the spot.
And then, you inhale. You breathe in and pray to be filled with the Spirit. You surrender control to Him. You thank Him for forgiving you, and you receive the purity and fullness of the Holy Spirit. You let Him empower and direct you.
As you practice this spiritual breathing, it teaches you to keep in step with the Spirit. It will probably seem unnatural at first. Your first few tries will be self-conscious and you will feel like a toddler learning to walk. It will take your total concentration. But before long, you will be putting one foot in front of the other and walking will feel completely natural.
Spiritual breathing is an exercise of your faith, and it enables you to experience God’s love and forgiveness on an ongoing basis.

Pursuing Today
Starting right now, try this simple exercise. Exhale. (What do you need to confess? In what ways are you still striving to live in your own power?) Inhale. (Surrender yourself again to the work and power of the Holy Spirit inside of you.) Repeat. Give Him room. Let the Spirit breathe through you.