Photo Credit pavel-lozovikov

Don’t Waste Your Breath

I don’t want to waste a single breath. Life’s too short to spend it whining about Wi-Fi speeds or arguing with strangers in the comment section. Instead, I want to use each breath to breathe life into those entrusted to me—to nurture, encourage, and inspire.

This year, I’m practicing a breath prayer: breathing in Your love for me, breathing out my love for You. With each breath, I want my physiology and theology to align. (Yes, even my stress-induced sighs need a spiritual audit.) I want to check what I’m giving my breath to as I ask God to teach me to number my days and gain a heart of wisdom.

George Bernard Shaw once wrote:

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

Shaw’s words stir something in me. But let’s not miss the twist. After all his fiery proclamations, Shaw wrote near the end of his life:

“The science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt. Its counsels, which should have established the millennium, led, instead, directly to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once. In their name I helped to destroy the faith of millions of worshipers in the temples of a thousand creeds. And now look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who has lost his faith.”

Ouch. What must it feel like to devote your life to a flame you no longer carry? To reach your final days and realize the purpose you pursued so fervently has crumbled into ashes? Shaw’s story is a cautionary tale of what happens when human ideals are untethered from eternal truth.

This is why my friend Adele’s prayer resonates so deeply with me: “Oh God, don’t let me outlive my love for You.”That prayer sticks with me. It’s the plea of a heart that refuses to settle for mere existence. It’s about staying alive in the truest sense, rooted in the One who gives life meaning.

May my breath only last as long as my love for God and people. May my days be complete when I’ve given all that was mine to give. And until that day, may I live with wisdom, love, and purpose—a splendid torch burning brightly for the glory of God and the good of others.

A Simple Practice:

Want to join me in this? Start with this breath prayer: breathe in God’s love for you, breathe out your love for God.

As you breathe, ask yourself:

  1. What am I giving my breath to today?
    Anger? Shame? Petty frustrations? Netflix binges? Or am I investing in people and work that are mine to have and hold and truly reflect God’s purpose for me?

  2. With limited breaths, how can I breathe life into the people and moments entrusted to me?
    Does this align with God’s wisdom and love, or am I wasting precious breaths on distractions?

Let this prayer center you, snap you out of distractions, and help you number your days with a heart of wisdom.

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Let 2025 Be Your Year of Breathing
Join Clare and Scott Loughrige for transformative offerings that align your life with the flourishing you were made for.