16 Bible Verses About Self Care

Genesis 2:2-3

“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.”

Reflection: The account of creation closes with God finishing his work and resting from it. The blessing and holiness of the seventh day rest on that one reason, and Exodus 20:11 repeats it when it gives Israel the Sabbath: “Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Exodus 20:8-10

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.”

Reflection: The Sabbath command turns God’s rest in Genesis 2 into a rule for Israel, and verse 11 gives that as the reason: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth… and rested on the seventh day.” The rest covers everyone in the household, including servants, livestock and the foreigner living in the town. Jesus later said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

Psalm 127:2

“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”

Reflection: The psalm, headed “Of Solomon,” opens with builders and watchmen who work in vain unless the Lord builds and watches. Verse 2 applies the same point to long hours: rising early and staying up late to eat “the bread of anxious toil” gains nothing, because God “gives to his beloved sleep.”

Mark 6:31

“And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.”

Reflection: The apostles had just come back from the mission Jesus sent them on and reported “all that they had done and taught.” Jesus tells them to go to a desolate place and rest, because the crowds left them no time even to eat. The rest did not last: the crowds ran ahead and met the boat, and Jesus had compassion on them and began teaching again (verses 33-34).

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Reflection: Jesus speaks to “all who labor and are heavy laden” and promises rest to anyone who comes to him. A yoke was a working tool, so the rest he offers comes with a burden of its own, one he calls easy and light. He grounds the promise in his own character: “I am gentle and lowly in heart.”

Psalm 23:1-3

“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.”

Reflection: David pictures God as a shepherd who “makes me lie down in green pastures” and leads the sheep to still water. The rest and the drink come before the paths of righteousness in verse 3 and the valley of the shadow of death in verse 4.

1 Kings 19:5-6

“And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Arise and eat.’ And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.”

Reflection: Elijah had fled from Jezebel into the wilderness and asked God to take his life (verse 4). An angel wakes him, gives him bread and water, and lets him lie down again, and the same thing happens a second time. The second time the angel gives the reason: “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you” (verse 7).

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“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.”

Reflection: Paul writes against Corinthians who used the saying “All things are lawful for me” to excuse sleeping with prostitutes (verses 12-18). His answer is that the body belongs to the Lord: it is a temple of the Holy Spirit and was “bought with a price.” The command at the end, “glorify God in your body,” rests on the claim that the body matters to God.

Ephesians 5:29

“For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.”

Reflection: The verse sits in Paul’s instruction to husbands to love their wives “as their own bodies” (verse 28). It takes for granted that people feed and look after their own flesh, and it compares that care to the way Christ nourishes and cherishes the church. Paul treats caring for one’s own body as normal and uses it as the measure for caring for a wife.

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.”

Reflection: Paul tells Timothy to “train yourself for godliness” (verse 7) and then compares that training with physical exercise. He grants bodily training “some value” and says godliness is “of value in every way,” because it “holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

3 John 1:2

“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.”

Reflection: John opens his letter to Gaius, a church member he loves, with a prayer for his good health. He sets bodily health beside the health of Gaius’s soul, which he already knows about because visiting believers reported that Gaius was “walking in the truth” (verse 3).

Proverbs 4:23

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

Reflection: A father tells his son to keep his words in his heart, because they are “life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh” (verse 22). The command to guard the heart comes next, and the verses after it apply the same watchfulness to speech, eyes and feet. The reason given is that “from it flow the springs of life.”

Philippians 4:8

“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.”

Reflection: Paul’s list follows his instruction to replace anxiety with prayer and thanksgiving, with the promise that “the peace of God… will guard your hearts and your minds” (verses 6-7). Verse 8 then tells the Philippians what to think about: whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable. Verse 9 adds that they should practice what they learned from Paul, and “the God of peace will be with you.”

Proverbs 17:22

“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

Reflection: The proverb sets the effect of a joyful heart against a crushed spirit, and it describes both in bodily terms: one is medicine, the other dries up the bones. It treats a person’s inner state and physical health as bound together.

Galatians 6:2

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Reflection: The verse follows Paul’s instruction to restore a fellow believer caught in sin gently, while each one keeps watch on himself (verse 1). Carrying one another’s burdens fulfils “the law of Christ.” Paul then tells each person to test his own work, “for each will have to bear his own load” (verses 4-5).

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”

Reflection: The Preacher has just described a man with no son or brother who never stops working and never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” (verse 8). Against that he sets two people who share a reward for their work and lift each other when one falls. The passage goes on to two keeping warm together and a threefold cord that is not quickly broken (verses 11-12).