100 Bible Verses about Finishing What You Start

Philippians 1:6 ESV / 199 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.

2 Corinthians 8:11 ESV / 188 helpful votes

So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.

Ecclesiastes 7:8 ESV / 184 helpful votes

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Revelation 3:2 ESV / 111 helpful votes

Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

2 Corinthians 8:10-12 ESV / 100 helpful votes

And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

2 Timothy 4:7 ESV / 88 helpful votes

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

John 4:34 ESV / 87 helpful votes

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

Luke 14:28-30 ESV / 80 helpful votes

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

Philippians 4:13 ESV / 58 helpful votes

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Colossians 3:23 ESV / 52 helpful votes

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

Genesis 2:1-3 ESV / 49 helpful votes

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

James 1:12 ESV / 47 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.

Hebrews 12:1 ESV / 42 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,

Nehemiah 6:15-16 ESV / 42 helpful votes

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

1 Peter 1:1-25 ESV / 40 helpful votes

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ...

Psalm 119:60 ESV / 39 helpful votes

I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments.

Acts 20:24 ESV / 38 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.

Proverbs 13:19 ESV / 37 helpful votes

A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.

Romans 12:1 ESV / 36 helpful votes

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.

Isaiah 10:23 ESV / 35 helpful votes

For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.

Romans 8:18-25 ESV / 34 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. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ...

Ezra 6:14 ESV / 30 helpful votes

And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia;

James 1:3 ESV / 25 helpful votes

For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV / 25 helpful votes

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 4:19 ESV / 23 helpful votes

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 21 helpful votes

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

Galatians 2:20 ESV / 21 helpful votes

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Romans 12:2 ESV / 21 helpful votes

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Matthew 11:28 ESV / 21 helpful votes

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

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 20 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,

Philippians 3:13-14 ESV / 20 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 2:10 ESV / 20 helpful votes

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 19 helpful votes

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

Galatians 6:9 ESV / 19 helpful votes

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

James 2:26 ESV / 18 helpful votes

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Genesis 1:1 ESV / 18 helpful votes

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV / 17 helpful votes

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 11:1 ESV / 17 helpful votes

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

2 Timothy 4:10 ESV / 17 helpful votes

For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

Philippians 3:14 ESV / 17 helpful votes

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

2 Timothy 4:6-8 ESV / 16 helpful votes

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 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 1:5 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

John 5:24 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 19:30 ESV / 15 helpful votes

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Matthew 25:14-30 ESV / 15 helpful votes

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. ...

Isaiah 58:13-14 ESV / 15 helpful votes

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Philippians 4:6 ESV / 14 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.

Acts 17:11 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

James 1:22 ESV / 13 helpful votes

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Hebrews 10:35 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

Acts 9:10-12 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”

1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 12 helpful votes

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

Philippians 4:8 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Matthew 25:34-36 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

1 John 1:9 ESV / 11 helpful votes

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

James 2:14-18 ESV / 11 helpful votes

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Hebrews 11:1-40 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ...

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV / 11 helpful votes

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

John 19:28-30 ESV / 11 helpful votes

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Matthew 21:28-32 ESV / 11 helpful votes

“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

Haggai 1:9-11 ESV / 11 helpful votes

You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 11 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 65:11 ESV / 11 helpful votes

You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.

Nehemiah 2:1-20 ESV / 11 helpful votes

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it.” ...

2 Timothy 3:5 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

2 Corinthians 9:2 ESV / 10 helpful votes

For I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them.

Ezra 4:4-6 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Hebrews 10:38-39 ESV / 9 helpful votes

But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

2 Timothy 1:14 ESV / 9 helpful votes

By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Romans 8:29 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 9 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 3:2 ESV / 9 helpful votes

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Matthew 21:31 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.

Isaiah 43:1-28 ESV / 9 helpful votes

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. ...

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.

Exodus 4:18-31 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, ...

James 2:17 ESV / 7 helpful votes

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 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. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV / 6 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, 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. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Philippians 4:7 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 3:20 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

2 Corinthians 8:12 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

Romans 15:13 ESV / 6 helpful votes

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Romans 8:11 ESV / 6 helpful votes

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Romans 3:23 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

John 19:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

John 17:1-26 ESV / 6 helpful votes

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. ...

Mark 1:15 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Matthew 21:28 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’

Ecclesiastes 8:1-17 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. I say: Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him. Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. ...

Ecclesiastes 6:1-12 ESV / 6 helpful votes

There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. ...

Psalm 138:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Psalm 28:1 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Of David. To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.

Revelation 1:8 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

2 Timothy 2:5 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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

Philippians 3:5 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;

Ephesians 2:9 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

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