100 Bible Verses about Growing Up

1 Corinthians 13:11 ESV / 230 helpful votes

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

2 Timothy 3:14-15 ESV / 116 helpful votes

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Luke 2:52 ESV / 58 helpful votes

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

Proverbs 22:6 ESV / 55 helpful votes

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV / 54 helpful votes

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ...

2 Peter 3:18 ESV / 51 helpful votes

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

1 Samuel 2:26 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.

Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV / 43 helpful votes

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Ephesians 6:4 ESV / 34 helpful votes

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Luke 2:40 ESV / 33 helpful votes

And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV / 29 helpful votes

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 ESV / 29 helpful votes

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 27 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.

1 Peter 2:2-3 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Proverbs 13:22 ESV / 22 helpful votes

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.

Joshua 1:9 ESV / 22 helpful votes

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Matthew 7:12 ESV / 21 helpful votes

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV / 20 helpful votes

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

John 3:16 ESV / 19 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.

Luke 1:37 ESV / 18 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Proverbs 22:15 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

Ephesians 6:2 ESV / 17 helpful votes

“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),

Hebrews 5:12-14 ESV / 16 helpful votes

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Proverbs 23:22 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Acts 2:38 ESV / 14 helpful votes

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 1:8-9 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

Matthew 6:33 ESV / 13 helpful votes

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Titus 3:5 ESV / 12 helpful votes

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

1 Timothy 3:4 ESV / 12 helpful votes

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,

Luke 18:16 ESV / 12 helpful votes

But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

Psalm 118:24 ESV / 12 helpful votes

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

1 Samuel 3:19-20 ESV / 12 helpful votes

And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord.

Matthew 11:28 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Isaiah 40:31 ESV / 11 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.

Exodus 2:10 ESV / 11 helpful votes

When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Genesis 18:19 ESV / 11 helpful votes

For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

1 Peter 2:2 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—

Colossians 1:10 ESV / 10 helpful votes

So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Ephesians 4:15 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Ephesians 2:21 ESV / 10 helpful votes

In whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

John 13:7 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”

Matthew 6:34 ESV / 10 helpful votes

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 5:13 ESV / 10 helpful votes

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 10 helpful votes

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Psalm 127:3-5 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 10 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. ...

Hebrews 11:1 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

1 Timothy 4:7 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;

Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Acts 16:31 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Malachi 4:6 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

Jeremiah 31:33-37 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name: “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” Thus says the Lord: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord.”

Isaiah 59:20-21 ESV / 9 helpful votes

“And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord. “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

Proverbs 31:25 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.

Psalm 23:4 ESV / 9 helpful votes

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.

Psalm 23:1 ESV / 9 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 1:1-3 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Philippians 4:13 ESV / 8 helpful votes

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Romans 8:18 ESV / 8 helpful votes

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Luke 1:80 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Matthew 22:39 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 5:6 ESV / 8 helpful votes

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Micah 6:8 ESV / 8 helpful votes

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Ezekiel 25:17 ESV / 8 helpful votes

I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”

Proverbs 29:17 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.

Proverbs 27:17 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 13:24 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

Psalm 37:24 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.

1 Samuel 3:19 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

Joshua 24:15 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV / 8 helpful votes

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Exodus 3:14 ESV / 8 helpful votes

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV / 7 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.

Philippians 1:6 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Luke 6:27 ESV / 7 helpful votes

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

Matthew 2:23 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Malachi 4:5-6 ESV / 7 helpful votes

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

Isaiah 11:1 ESV / 7 helpful votes

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

Isaiah 9:6 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Psalm 113:9 ESV / 7 helpful votes

He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 105:15-19 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!” When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.

Psalm 105:8 ESV / 7 helpful votes

He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

Psalm 46:10 ESV / 7 helpful votes

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV / 7 helpful votes

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Deuteronomy 11:19 ESV / 7 helpful votes

You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Exodus 20:12 ESV / 7 helpful votes

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

1 Peter 4:17 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Colossians 2:1-23 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. ...

1 Corinthians 11:3 ESV / 6 helpful votes

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.

Romans 5:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Matthew 22:37 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Matthew 19:26 ESV / 6 helpful votes

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

Matthew 5:16 ESV / 6 helpful votes

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Ezekiel 23:20 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses.

Isaiah 5:1-30 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. ...

Colossians 3:1-25 ESV / 5 helpful votes

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ...

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 ESV / 5 helpful votes

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

Acts 10:45-47 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

Suggest a Verse


Visit the Bible online to search for words if you don’t know the specific passage your’re looking for.