40 Days to Heal a Nation’s Racial DivideSample

Week 2:  Value of Life

Day 9: I Can’t Breathe

“I can’t breathe.” 

These three words sparked international outcry and protests recently as the final words of George Floyd. A recent investigative report found that these same three words preceded the deaths of at least seventy people in police custody across the United States over the last decade, with many officers not believing the detainee. Why? When people say, “I can’t breathe,” why wouldn’t we believe them? 

Breath is sacred. Life is sacred. And both seem to be under attack.

Whether through police brutality or a global pandemic virus attacking the respiratory system, people are finding it harder to breathe. Thus, it is imperative that we remember what God says in His Word.  

Genesis 2:7 says that God breathe His breath of life into man and man became a living being. Our breath, our life comes from God. As God’s family, as His Church, we must position ourselves on the front lines fighting for every breath and every life equally. 

One of the harms of racism is that as an institution and belief system, it proliferates the lie that one life is more valuable than another based on skin hue. But God’s Word says differently. God gives breath and life to every human being. He loves His Creation so much that He gives His Son’s life for each one of us, equally, that we would have eternal life in Him. 

Do we value every breath and every life equally as God does? Or do we assign value based on one's hue?   

PRAYER

Father, please forgive us as a nation and as the Church for not believing that life and breath are sacred gifts from You which must be cherished and protected in every human being. We repent. Please shift our hearts and thoughts to align with Your Word and please grant us the desire to fight for every life equally, in Jesus’s Name, Amen.