Bible Verse for Athletes

Compiled by The BibleStudyTools Staff on 02/14/2024
Bible Verse for Athletes

Best Bible Verses for Athletes: Scriptures for Sports Motivation

The Bible often speaks of athletic analogies and stories as encouragements for persevering. Many Bible verses can motivate athletes' training and competition. Remember that whether you win or lose, God can be glorified through your hard work and effort! Find the best Bible verses for athletes and sports in this collection of scriptures!

Top 10 Bible Verses for Athletes and Sports

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.

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 Corinthians 10:31: So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27: 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. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Hebrews 12:1-2: 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, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Philippians 3:12-14: Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 5:7: You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

Galatians 6:9: And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Hebrews 12:2: Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Read more Bible verses for athletes and sports motivation in the collection of scriptures below:

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Deuteronomy 31:6
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
10 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.
Hebrews 12:1 - Run with Endurance
1 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,
2 Timothy 4:7
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Hope In The Lord - Isaiah 40:31
31 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.
Philippians 4:13 - I Can Do All Things
13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
27 It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to search out matters that are too deep.
Do For the Lord
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
11 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.
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
24 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.
25 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.
26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.
27 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.