The What Does God’s Breath Smell Like? Chapel

Between the news, social media, and the internet, there are a lot of voices in the world today.  Teaching our kids to know and treasure God’s voice above all else, is a firm foundation for their future.

A great way to start this conversation is by using 2 Timothy 3:16.

Here is a fun lesson about this verse that I shared in a recent chapel at our school!

To begin the chapel, I got up on stage and began saying some basic introduction things.  Like a greeting, and how is everybody, etc.  After about 30 seconds of this, I stopped suddenly and said, “OH MY GOODNESS!”

Of course this got everyone’s attention, so I capitalized on their engagement.  I went on and on saying, “Oh my goodness, I forgot to do something!”

I paced back and forth on the stage and acted stressed about this great thing I had forgotten!

Then I pretended to smell my breath by cupping my hand over my mouth and blowing out.  I was very disgusted by what I “smelled”.

I told the group that I had forgotten to brush my teeth!  Horrors!  My breath was awful!  Like a thousand dirty socks!  Like rotten bananas in a pigpen!  How terrible since I had so many meetings that day and kids to talk to and parents to have conversations with.  Embarrassing!

After carrying on for a bit, I said, “You know what I need to do to fix this?  I need to brush my teeth!”

Then I asked them if it was okay if I brushed my teeth on stage.  They said yes of course.  So I pulled out my toothbrush and FAVORITE TOOTHPASTE EVER (affiliate link) and a small bowl.

And I brushed my teeth on stage.

I turned away from them to spit into the bowl, which I think came as a relief to everyone.

When I had finished I said, “Now that’s better!”

After a pause I said thoughtfully, “You know I wonder what God’s breath smells like?”

This caused quite a stir because talk about a weird question.  But it got us thinking… What DOES His breath smell like?  Vanilla cupcakes?  Christmas trees??

I said, “I know what His breath smells like,” and I pulled a big Bible out of my bag.

I flipped through the pages and smelled it and made a big deal about how amazing it smelled.  I said that God breathed out and gave us His Word.

Then I read 2 Timothy 3:16 aloud.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…

God breathed out and gave us His Word so that we might grow in 4 important ways in our faith.

I said that those 4 ways were the really big words from the Bible verse.  Teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.  I told the kids that we were going to learn what those 4 words meant and that I needed 4 volunteers to help me.

Once I had my 4 volunteers, I put them in a line across the stage.

First we learned that TEACHING means God’s Word (breathed out by God) helps us learn about God and how to live for Him.  Then I taught them a hand motion and had the first volunteer take their pointer fingers and point to their head.

Second we learned that REBUKING means God’s Word (breathed out by God) shows us our sin and the things we are doing wrong.  Not in a “YOU ARE BAD AND HORRIBLE” way, but rather a loving revelation so as to set us on the right path.  For this hand motion we put our hands over our heart since most sin begins there.

Which leads to the third word – CORRECTING.  When God’s Word (breathed out by God) shows us our sin, it also shows us how to make it right.  For this hand motion we held our hands out and open in front of us – a visual plea saying, “Lord, I have done wrong, what I am doing is not working, and I need your help.  SHOW ME A BETTER WAY!”  I had fun holding this volunteer’s hands out and shaking them crazily.

Finally, we looked at the last phrase – training in righteousness.  God’s Word (breathed out by God) trains us in righteousness because it teaches us how to be like Jesus.  We took our hands and pointed up to heaven.  Training in righteousness is growing to be like Christ – which is the ultimate goal of believers.

Once we made it through the 4 words, we recited the whole verse together using the hand motions and volunteers.

After the volunteers sat down, I asked the group if there was one person who knew the verse by heart and would come up on the stage and share it with everyone.  Because it’s beautiful to take God’s Words and breathe them out on others.  That kind of breath smells AMAZING.

A little boy volunteered for the job, came on the stage, and shared the verse proudly in the microphone.

When he finished we all clapped and I said, “Because we value God’s Word and the life-giving breath it fills our lives with, I want to bless you with a brand new Bible!”  Then I awarded him a new The Jesus Storybook Bible (one of my favorites).

That was it!

I hope this is helpful to you as you teach your kiddos about the powerful, awesome-smelling breath of God!  And also maybe a little bonus lesson in dental hygiene.

Joyfully,

Julie 🙂