Do you compete in sports? Competition to win can be fierce, but God wants us to have good sportsmanship. Read 33 Bible verses for sports.
God’s Word offers many verses that can serve as encouragement and motivation for athletes who are competing in sports.
It can be easy to seek our own glory and our own interests in things like sports, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy and play sports for the glory of God. The Lord can use your strength, your hard work, and your good courage as a part of your Christian life to honor Him.
Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and you can use sports as another opportunity to exercise a sound mind, fight a spirit of fear, and honor the commandments of God on game day, during practices, and every time you use your body to exercise and compete.
If you’re looking for Scripture to inspire you as a Christian athlete or sports enthusiast, here are motivational Bible verses for sports that are perfect for you.
32 Bible Verses for Sports & Athletes
1. 2 Timothy 2:5 – Athletes Competing According To The Rules
“Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.”
2. 1 Corinthians 10:31 – Do It All for The Glory of God
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
3. 1 Timothy 4:8 – Godliness Has Value for All Things Including Bodily Training
“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
4. Hebrews 12:1 – Run With Endurance
“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Read More: 15 Bible Verses on Endurance {When You Feel Like Giving Up}
5. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – The Need for Self-Discipline
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.
They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.
No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Read More: 15 Bible Verses on Self Control
6. 2 Timothy 4:7 – Fight the Good Fight
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
7. Isaiah 40:29-31 – Strength To The Weary
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even the youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on the wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.”
8. Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.”
9. Matthew 11:28 – He Will Give You Rest
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.
10. Psalm 18:29 – By My God
For by you, I can run against a troop and by my God I can leap over a wall.
11. Joshua 1:9 – Be Strong & Courageous
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
12. Ecclesiastes 9:10 – Do It With All Your Might
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”
13. Ephesians 6:13 – Stand Firm
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
14. Philippians 4:6 – Do Not Be Anxious About Anything
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
15. Hebrews 12:11-13 – Discipline Produces Fruit
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.“Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”
16. Philippians 2:3 – In Humility Consider Others Better Than Yourselves
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”
17. Matthew 6:31-34 – Seek First His Kingdom
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
18. Psalm 37:23-24 – The Lord Establishes Our Steps
“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”
19. Jeremiah 17:7-8 – Blessed Is The One Who Trusts In The Lord
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
20. Matthew 19:26 – With God All Things Are Possible
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
21. 1 Peter 5:6-7 – He Cares For You
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
22. Colossians 3:23-24 – Do It Heartily
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
23. 2 Samuel 23:12 – The Lord Worked A Great Victory
“But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.”
24. Romans 12:2 – Be Transformed By The Renewing of Your Mind
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Read More: 26 Powerful Bible Verses for Renewing Your Mind
25. Galatians 6:9 – Do Not Become Weary in Doing Good
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
26. Hebrews 12:1-2 – Throw Off Everything That Hinders
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
27. Romans 15:5 – The God Who Gives Endurance
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.”
28. Psalm 34:4-8 – He Delivers From All Our Fears
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”
29. Isaiah 40:29-31 – Renew Their Strength
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Read More: 25 Bible Verses About Strength
30. Romans 8:28 – All Things Work Together For Good
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
31. Galatians 1:3-5 – All Glory To God
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
32. Ephesians 5:20 – Give Thanks For Everything
Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
33. Psalm 28:7 – The Lord Is My Strength & My Shield
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.”
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