When God furnished Adam and Eve with sinless bodies of flesh, muscle, and bone, they weren’t commanded to go out and get a sun tan, work on their six-pack abs, or cut their caloric intake. But they were given bodies in order to function properly in life, ministry, and for the glory of God alone.
And so are you in your body as well.
Live in Your Body with Motivation
The gospel of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with health, wealth, or prosperous living (i.e. get more money, a bigger house, etc.). However, the Bible does provide an arsenal of rich wisdom about how to take care of your body, why doing so is important, and how living a healthy lifestyle can be a wonderful testimony to your unbelieving family and friends.
Moreover, living a “fit” lifestyle will give you greater physical energy in your ministry toward other people.
I’m convinced that nothing provides more motivation or encouragement than the Word of God. The Bible is infallible and altogether holy, and without it we’d all be lost and damned to an eternity of hell.
God uses various Bible verses at different times to motivate his people, to show us our sin and where we need to change, and to keep us on the right track for holy living.
Motivational Bible Verses for Faith & Fitness
Here are 55 passages and/or Motivational Bible Verses for Faith & Fitness to keep you going when it comes to developing your God-honoring body. May God richly bless you in your faith and fitness!
Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
1 Samuel 16:7 “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.”
Psalm 37:23-24 “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.”
Psalm 139:1-24 “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.”
Psalm 144:1-5 “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke!”
Proverbs 10:17 “The road to life is a disciplined life; ignore correction and you’re lost for good.”
Proverbs 12:11 “He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.”
Proverbs 14:23 “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”
Proverbs 20:29 “The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.”
Proverbs 23:1-3 “When you go out to dinner with an influential person, mind your manners: Don’t gobble your food, don’t talk with your mouth full. And don’t stuff yourself; bridle your appetite.”
Proverbs 23:20-21 “Don’t drink too much wine and get drunk; don’t eat too much food and get fat. Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row, in a stupor and dressed in rags.”
Proverbs 24:5 “A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might”
Proverbs 25:27 “It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.”
Proverbs 31:17 “She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.”
Proverbs 31:25 “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.”
Proverbs 31:31 “Give her the product of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.”
Ecclesiastes 4:12 “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
Isaiah 40:28-31 “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 58:11 “The LORD will guide you continually, watering your life when you are dry and keeping you healthy, too. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.”
Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.”
Daniel 1:12,13,15 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.’ At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.”
Matthew 4:4 “People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.”
Matthew 5:6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.”
Matthew 6:16-18 “When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won’t make you a saint. If you ‘go into training’ inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn’t require attention-getting devices. He won’t overlook what you are doing; he’ll reward you well.”
Matthew 6:25-27 “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life.”
Matthew 19:26 “But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Mark 9:23 “And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.”
1 Corinthians 6:12 “‘Everything is permissible for me’ – but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’ – but I will not be mastered by anything.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
1 Corinthians 8:8 “Food does not bring us near to God.”
1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”
1 Corinthians 9:27 “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
Galatians 6:4 “Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else.”
Ephesians 4:15-16 “Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
Ephesians 6:13 “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:8 “Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 5:14 “Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.”
2 Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”
1 Timothy 4:8 “For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”
2 Timothy 2:5 “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”
2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Hebrews 6:12 “So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Hebrews 12:11 “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
Hebrews 12:12,13 “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”
1 Peter 3:3-4 “Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”
3 John 1:2 “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.”
Revelation 22:12-13 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
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What other Motivational Bible Verses have been meaningful in your life, or that God used to do a great work in you?
This is a great reference post, Charles. Loved the Proverbs 23:1-3 one. 🙂
It’s my pleasure, Barb. God bless!
Great verse .Thanks for making them easily accessible.
You’re welcome! I pray that God uses them in your life in great ways.