So… I had a revelation this week, if you will. Earlier this week I went to go and get my car checked out. The car AC was not blowing any cold air at all! I mean nothing. It was hot! My car was due for an oil change, so I thought I might as well go get that done and then ask them about my AC.

I took it to the local car shop by my parents' house, and they said they didn’t work with AC, but that they would look at it to see if they could figure anything out. So essentially they did my oil change, but then they said, “Ma’am… your air filters need to be changed. They are pretty nasty. The front one and back one are very dirty.”

They showed me one of my filters and it was disgusting! I took a picture of it (shown below). The other man sitting near me in the shop said, “That’s the air you’re breathing in.”

You don’t realize what you’re breathing in from your car most of the time. That is the same for life. Sometimes we don’t realize what toxins we are breathing in. We don’t realize what we are breathing in, until we look at it. I’m hoping you look at what you are breathing in today. I’m not just preaching this to you; I’m preaching this to myself, too.

So I thought wow… that’s some nasty, gross, and unhealthy air I’m breathing in. Then I thought… what am I breathing in spiritually? Am I breathing in God or am I breathing in other distractions and things from this world? Am I breathing in His word, and am I breathing in His love?

There are so many things we fill our days with. There are a lot of toxic things we breathe in. People breathe in things like: addiction, alcohol, crude music, movies we are not meant to see and so much more.

I know for me, if I sing a particular song, it has a ripple effect on how I feel. Songs bring out emotions in you. Sometimes I have some awesome jams playing that I do love, and I don’t think it’s “bad” necessarily, but when I play worship music I feel peace, and I feel joy. If I hear a song that has crude language, I might be more prone to start saying words I probably shouldn’t say. Or I may think a word I shouldn’t think.

We have to be careful what “air” we are breathing into our bodies and minds and souls. We are precious creatures and our bodies are a gift and they are not our own. So we ought to glorify God with our bodies. It is the holy temple of God.

Scripture says so, too:

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Cor. 6:19-20

So you may be asking the question, what air should I be breathing in?

I’m glad you asked. We should be breathing in God’s love – which is found through opening up his word and reading it. His love is found in communication with him through prayer, and His love is found on the cross.

We should be breathing in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, forgiveness and self-control. These are all fruits of the Holy Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” Galatians 5:22

"I needed rescue
My sin was heavy
But chains break at the weight of Your glory
I needed shelter
I was an orphan
But You call me a citizen of heaven
When I was broken
You were my healing
Your love is the air that I'm breathing
I have a future
My eyes are open
You called my name
And I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness
Into Your glorious day"

Above are the song lyrics to “I Ran Out of that Grave,” by Kristian Stanfill.

You have the power to control what you breathe in today. You have a choice. I hope you choose God’s love. I hope His love overwhelms you. I hope you find peace today. I hope you find forgiveness. I hope you are breathing in worship music and pouring it out to God. I hope you’re breathing in Joy and dancing all day and all night. I hope you are breathing in His love for you. Make the choice to stand firm today and say, “I’m going to breathe in Jesus and His love for me... No matter what.”

“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” 1 John 4: 16