72 Bible Verses about Athletics

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV / 32 helpful votes

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.

2 Timothy 2:5 ESV / 29 helpful votes

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

Philippians 4:13 ESV / 21 helpful votes

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

1 Peter 2:17 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

2 Timothy 4:7 ESV / 11 helpful votes

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Hebrews 12:1 ESV / 10 helpful votes

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,

1 Timothy 4:8 ESV / 9 helpful votes

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.

James 1:27 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Colossians 3:23-24 ESV / 8 helpful votes

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.

Philippians 3:12-14 ESV / 8 helpful votes

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.

1 Corinthians 9:25 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

Isaiah 40:31 ESV / 8 helpful votes

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.

Hebrews 12:11-13 ESV / 7 helpful votes

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. 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 Corinthians 9:25-27 ESV / 7 helpful votes

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.

1 Corinthians 9:24 ESV / 7 helpful votes

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.

2 Timothy 4:7-8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Philippians 3:14 ESV / 6 helpful votes

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV / 6 helpful votes

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.

Isaiah 40:29-31 ESV / 6 helpful votes

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.

Psalm 32:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Numbers 1:1-54 ESV / 6 helpful votes

The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; ...

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 5 helpful votes

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Philippians 2:3 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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

1 Corinthians 4:6 ESV / 5 helpful votes

I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.

Romans 8:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Acts 20:24 ESV / 5 helpful votes

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Isaiah 40:28-31 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.

Proverbs 25:27 ESV / 5 helpful votes

It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory.

Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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.”

Revelation 2:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Hebrews 12:11 ESV / 4 helpful votes

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.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

1 Timothy 4:16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Colossians 3:23 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

Philippians 2:3-4 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Matthew 19:26 ESV / 4 helpful votes

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

3 John 1:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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.

1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

1 Peter 1:13-16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

James 4:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 1:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

2 Timothy 4:8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Colossians 4:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Colossians 3:8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Philippians 3:13-14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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.

Ephesians 4:29 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Galatians 6:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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

Galatians 2:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.

1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

Romans 5:3-4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

John 3:16-17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

John 3:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Mark 8:34-38 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Jeremiah 9:23-24 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Philippians 4:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Isaiah 40:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Ecclesiastes 9:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Proverbs 27:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

Proverbs 14:30 ESV / 2 helpful votes

A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.

Proverbs 8:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Psalm 37:23-24 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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 37:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

Psalm 19:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

2 Samuel 23:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory.

1 Samuel 12:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.

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