Breathe In, Breathe Out: The Spirit and the Power of Forgiveness

In John 20:19–23, we witness one of the most intimate moments between Jesus and His disciples. The resurrected Christ enters the room, stands among them, and does something unexpected:

“He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.’”

This was no casual breath. It was the breath of new creation. Just as God breathed life into Adam in the garden (Genesis 2:7), Jesus now breathes resurrection life into His disciples. He breathes out — they breathe in. The Spirit is imparted.

And then, immediately, Jesus ties the breath of the Spirit to the act of forgiveness.

The Rhythm of Spirit-Breathing

Breathing requires both inhaling and exhaling. So it is with the Spirit-filled life. We inhale His presence, His peace, His truth. And we exhale His life into the world — through our words, our actions, and especially through forgiveness.

When we forgive, we breathe out heaven’s atmosphere. When we hold onto bitterness, pride, or offense, we suffocate the Spirit’s flow. Forgiveness is not just a moral choice; it’s a spiritual exchange. It is heaven entering earth through our lungs.

Forgiveness and Pride

Pride blinds us to truth. Offense keeps us from hearing. In today’s culture, pride often disguises itself as certainty, outrage, or self-protection. But pride closes the heart and locks the lungs.

Forgiveness, on the other hand, humbles us. It opens the airways of the soul. It makes room for the Spirit’s breath to move freely through us. As Jesus taught us to pray: “On earth as it is in heaven… forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:10–12).

A Word for Today

We are living in an age where conversations have been replaced by arguments, and dialogue has been drowned out by division. Many are too offended to sit at the table. But the Spirit is saying to the Church today:

Breathe. Forgive. Converse. Release the offenses. Don’t let pride blind you to truth. He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit is saying.

The breath of God is coming again, not only to fill us but to free us — from bitterness, from division, from the suffocating grip of offense.

The Power of Conversation

Forgiveness restores the possibility of conversation. Imagine what could happen if communities, churches, and even nations sat down face-to-face. Imagine what would shift if we listened before defending, forgave before accusing, and humbled ourselves before insisting on being right.

This is the way of the Spirit. This is the breath of God.

Living the Prayer

So here is the challenge for us today:

Inhale His Spirit — daily, intentionally, gratefully.

Exhale His forgiveness — freely, without holding back.

Guard against pride — it will choke out the flow of truth.

Stay unoffended — this is the way of Christ.

The Lord’s Prayer is more than words we recite; it is the breath of heaven in our lungs.

A Closing Prayer

“Lord, I breathe You in — Your Spirit, Your forgiveness, Your life.
I breathe You out — grace, truth, and freedom into this world.
Teach me to live unoffended. Teach me to forgive freely.
Let me become a living conversation of heaven on earth.”