Does the Bible say anything about health and wellness?
You won’t find a fitness plan or diet to follow in the Bible. But you will find truth about how God made us, what he made our bodies for, and motivation to be good stewards of the gift God has given us in our bodies. Here you will find truth that can reshape your life. Believing what God says about our bodies can transform how we think about our bodies, behave with our bodies, and treat our bodies.
May what you read here lead you to love the God who gave you a body, and to use that body to love him and love others more.
Bible Verses About the Body
God Created Our Bodies
1. Psalm 139:13-14 NIV
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
This Bible verse makes clear that it is not a mom and dad alone who bring a child into the world. God is the one who makes life—who brings spirit and cells together—and God is the designer of every person, and thus, every body. God the Creator made our bodies.
Our Bodies Are Weak and Fragile
2. Genesis 2:7 ESV
Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
3. Psalm 103:14 ESV
For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
4. 2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
Our bodies are masterpieces, intricate systems beyond even our own understanding. God crowned humanity as the most precious part of his creation, making us—body and soul—in his image (Genesis 1:26-27). Despite the wonder of the human body, our composition is frail. We are weak creatures. Every one of us will age and eventually return to the dust. We tire, we get sick, we age, we die. As strong as the human body may seem, the Bible reminds us that our bodies are fragile and frail.
Our Minds and Bodies Are Intricately Woven Together by God
5. Proverbs 17:22 ESV
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
6. Proverbs 18:14 ESV
A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?
7. Proverbs 14:30 NLT
A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.
8. Proverbs 4:23 NIV
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
What the following verses refer to is often called the “mind-body connection.” Our bodies have strong influence over our minds and our emotions, and vice versa. Restless thoughts can make you sleepless, anxiety can make you nauseous, heartbreak can give you a headache. These verses from Scripture are immensely helpful to us. They help us better understand our experiences and better understand the experiences of others in light of this truth—our souls and bodies are intricately intertwined.
God Created Us with Gendered Bodies
9. Genesis 1:27 NIV
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
In his wisdom, God made us not just with bodies, but with gendered bodies. God made our bodies either male or female. In so doing, God gave us the ability to create new life, to enjoy marriage and family, and to reveal his glory to the world.
Enjoy Youth and Health Which Are Gifts from God
10. Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 NLT
Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.
Health and youth are gifts from God that he wants us to enjoy. Insofar as you have health or strength, praise God for it, and enjoy that gift!
Obedience to God Impacts the Whole Person
11. Proverbs 4:20-22 NLT
My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.
12. Proverbs 3:7-8 NLT
Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.
Proverbs in the Bible are general truths that require wisdom in order to rightly apply them to our lives. Although there may be times that obedience to the Lord leads to self-sacrifice, or persecution, or heartbreak, it is generally true that to walk in the ways of the Lord will bring life and healing to our whole person.
If You’re a Believer in Jesus, Your Body Is a Temple Where God’s Spirit Dwells
13. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
So much could be said on this point. We encourage you to explore our resources about the Holy Spirit. God promises a special gift to those who put their faith in Jesus. He gives us his own Spirit to live in us, so that we are always in his presence (Ezekiel 36:26). We do not need to go somewhere to find or worship God; he has made his home in our hearts. Thus, our bodies are “houses” for the Lord. If he dwells within us, then our physical bodies are the place of his presence. This is the rationale that Scripture gives us for honoring God with our bodies.
We Worship Jesus with Our Bodies
14. Romans 12:1 NIV
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
What Jesus has done for us on the cross is not just a spiritual reality for us; it’s reality, period. When Jesus saved us, he didn’t save our souls alone, he saved us—body included! He will raise our bodies from the dead after we die (1 Corinthians 6:14). The beautiful words of the Heidelberg Catechism frame Jesus’ redemption of us like this: “I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.” Now that we belong to Jesus, we respond to his salvation by worshipping him with all that we are. Our whole lives belong to Jesus now, and our bodies can be offered to Jesus in service to him, now directed by his Spirit to love and serve others.
Our Earthly Bodies Will Die, and God Will Give Us Resurrected Bodies
15. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 ESV
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
The Bible gives followers of Jesus a helpful analogy to understand our bodily experience. The body is like a tent that we have temporarily, but when we die, that tent will be replaced by a house. That house is our resurrected body. Notice from the Scripture above that our current bodies or “tents” are able to be destroyed, they’re mortal, and in them we groan. We ache, we get sick and tired, we get injured, we suffer weakness and limitation, and we die. But, God has prepared us for eternal life, and in that eternal life we will have resurrected bodies!
We must keep in mind the sober reality that this eternal life is reserved for those who have accepted God’s offer of forgiveness through his Son, Jesus, and have put their faith in him.
When Jesus returns, he will raise all people from the dead to everlasting life or everlasting punishment (Revelation 20:11-15).
Our bodies are of great value to God! He knit together the ones we have now and has prepared for us a future resurrected body. Our bodies are his work, and his gift.
God Is More Concerned with the State of Our Heart than the Attractiveness of Our Body
16. 1 Samuel 16:7 ESV
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
What a wonderful Scripture to hold in mind when we think about the appearance of our bodies! God sees not as we see. We look at outward appearance; God looks at the heart. God is the one who endows us with the bodies we have—he does not relate to his children based off attractiveness or ability. Rather, God is concerned with our hearts.
Whether we are attractive to others has no bearing on our value in the eyes of the Lord. What concerns the Lord is whether we trusting Christ and loving Christ and others as the fruit of that.
Bible Verses About Health and Wellness
The Health of Our Bodies Is a Legitimate Concern
17. 3 John 1:2 NLT
Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.
God’s Spirit inspired the author of a short letter in the New Testament to write these words to his friend. The author doesn’t just hope for the spiritual wellbeing of his friend, although he writes about spiritual matters. He is concerned for his friend’s physical wellbeing also. As followers of Jesus, our care for each other extends not just to one another’s souls, but to the whole person.
Bodily Suffering in the Bible Is Described as the Result of Sin
18. Psalm 38:3, 7-8 NLT
Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins…A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken. I am exhausted and completely crushed. My groans come from an anguished heart.
What we read in these verses is the testimony of King David from the book of Psalms. This is a description of someone who understands that their sickness is the result of their sin. The following verses (#20 in this article) from John 9 will make clear that we cannot and should not draw this conclusion in our own lives too quickly. But there are instances in which sinning can lead to sickness—alcohol abuse can lead to liver failure; sexual promiscuity can cause diseases; idolizing work can lead to burnout, and the like.
Bodily Suffering in the Bible Is Described as an Opportunity for God to Show His Glory
19. John 9:1-3 ESV
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Jesus’ disciples quickly assumed that this man’s disability was the direct result of sin. Jesus corrected them, and in so doing, assures us that not all bodily suffering is the result of sin, and we should not hastily come to such conclusions. Quite to the contrary, this man’s disability created an opportunity for him and those around him to witness a miraculous work of God—God healed him! So too our physical suffering may provide opportunity for God to display his mighty works in our lives.
God’s People Have Hope Even When Our Bodies Fail Us
20. Psalm 73:26 NLT
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.
This sentence from Psalms may be some of the richest comfort available to the person whose health is failing. Even though you may lose both your strength of body and spirit, God will not forsake you. When we feel powerless, sapped of all your energy inside and out, God remains our strength. When we lose our health, we still have God’s hand to hold.
If You’re Sick, Ask for Prayer
21. James 5:14-16 NIV
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
God has graciously invited us to approach him boldly with our needs in prayer (Hebrews 4:16). In the book of James God provides a special invitation to those who are sick—to go to the leadership of their church and ask for prayer.
God Is the Healer
22. Psalm 103:1-5 ESV
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
In this beautiful prayer we find in the Psalms, the author reminds us just how wonderful the Lord is. He recounts the character and works of God, as he relates to those who belong to him. In that list of wonderful works of God, we find that God “heals all your diseases.” As these verses celebrate, God is our redeemer, the one who forgives us, and redeems our lives, who showers us in kindness. But he’s also the one who heals our bodies, and cares to renew our strength. God does not heal every ailment of his every child, but he is nevertheless the God who heals our diseases. Healing comes from his hand.
Words Have Healing Power
23. Proverbs 12:18 NLT
Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.
24. Proverbs 15:30 NLT
A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.
25. Proverbs 16:24 NLT
Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.
Words have power. This truth is woven throughout the Bible. These few Proverbs suggest that even the words we hear can bring relational, physical, and emotional healing to our lives. Words do contribute to our wellness! What motivation to speak kind words to others!
Jesus Knows What It Is to Experience Bodily Pain
26. Isaiah 53:5 ESV
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
27. Matthew 27:26-30 ESV
Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.
Jesus, the Son of God, lived among us (John 1:14). He was fully God, and fully man. As a man, he understands our suffering. He bore intense physical suffering to save us from our sins. He suffered in his body as our substitute, bearing the punishment we deserve for our sake. He was crucified for our sins, and then bodily raised from the dead, so that anyone who puts their trust in his sacrifice, might be set free from the penalty, power and presence (one day) of sin and brought into loving relationship with God (1 Peter 3:18).
(To learn more about the good news about Jesus, see our What Is the Gospel page).
If you have trusted in Jesus, then he stands at the right hand of God interceding for you in your suffering (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34). Your Savior knows what it is to suffer physically and has compassion on you when you are in pain. One day you will be entirely delivered from bodily suffering.
Those Who Trust in Jesus Will Be Physically Healed of All Pain in Eternity
28. Revelation 21:3-4 ESV
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The Scripture from above comes from the end of the last book of the Bible. It describes heaven—the place where God will dwell forever with all those who have trusted Jesus. What does it say about our bodies? Our tears will be wiped away. No more death—that includes aging. No more crying or pain. Can you imagine?
If you have put your faith in Jesus then you look forward to the day when you will be free of all physical suffering, never to experience it again.
Bible Verses About Food and Nutrition
Food Is a Gift from God
29. Psalm 104:14-15 ESV
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
God is the source of all our food. He is the kind benefactor from which all foods we enjoy come. This snippet from the Psalms says that God governs all the processes that lead to the food on our table. He makes the grass grow that feeds the cows that make our milk, and he prospers plants from which we get coffee and arugula, and peanuts and chocolate.
God’s kindness goes even further. Do you see how this Scripture reveals God’s intention to us? Yes, he gives us food and drink. But why? To gladden and strengthen our hearts. Food, and all the positive effects of it, are God’s gift to us not just for our sustenance, but for our strength and joy too.
Food Is God’s Means of Strengthening Us
30. 1 Kings 19:4-8 ESV
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 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. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
31. Psalm 127:2 ESV
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.
This is the story of Elijah, one of the prophets we read about in the Old Testament (Read 1 Kings 18-19). Elijah was exhausted, to say the least. He was under threat of death, and he was emotionally empty. You can see from the text above that he wanted to die. In this state, did God tell him to have more faith? To open up the Scriptures? No, an angel of God appeared to Elijah and served him in a simple way. The angel fed Elijah and Elijah slept. God strengthened his weary despairing servant with some food and drink.
This is so instructive for us—sometimes what we need for spiritual endurance is really some food and sleep. Our bodies have a great influence on our spiritual and emotional state. We are physical beings with physical needs. God knows this. God uses rest and food to nourish and strengthen us. Food and rest are God’s ordinary means of strengthening his children.
All Foods Are Clean for Christians to Eat
32. Mark 7:14-20 ESV
And he [Jesus] called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.
You may have grown up in a culture where you believe that it displeases God if you eat a certain food—maybe beef or pork—and so you come with the assumption that to glorify God with your body means you abstain from certain foods. Jesus gently corrects that idea here. The one true God is not concerned with what goes in your body—all foods are acceptable for you to eat in his sight. God is more concerned with what comes out of your body—your words to others and your behavior. (If you are curious about this topic and want to learn more, consider also reading Acts 10).
The Food You Eat Is a Matter of Personal Freedom
33. 1 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
As we consider what to eat to fuel our bodies, there are so many diets and meal plans and opinions about which foods are healthiest. God’s Word warns us against people who bind our consciences about the food we eat. The “healthy” way to approach food is with a thankful heart!
Don’t Feel Condemned by Eating Something “Unhealthy”
34. Colossians 2:16-17 ESV
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
God anticipated that people would cast condemnation on followers of Jesus for the food we do or don’t eat. Some Christians may see “healthier” choices as wiser and godlier. But God’s Word explicitly tells us to not let our food become a source of condemnation or judgment.
Make Choices Out of Consideration for Those Around You
35. Romans 14:14-19 ESV
I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
This Scripture comes from Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church in the first century.
At the time this letter was written, some Christians would eat meat from the markets, and this meat had previously been offered to idols. They had no problem with where their meat came from.
Other Christians were troubled by the fact that this meat sold in the market had first been offered to false gods, so they abstained from eating it. Both groups of Christians were judging each other about their decision. This is the context for what we read here in Romans 14 about food.
The principle behind Paul’s words here can be applied to our lives and certainly taken to heart. What we eat, and what we do with our bodies is not a matter of personal preference alone but should be a matter of love. As we eat and drink, God calls us to make our choices in consideration of the people around us.
Bible Verses About How to Steward Our Bodies
Use Your Body to Do What’s Right
36. Romans 6:13 NLT
Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
Because we belong to Jesus Christ, who redeemed us with his precious blood, all that we are belongs to him. We face a daily battle—to give our bodies over to sin, or to give our bodies over to Jesus. We can only serve one master (Matthew 6:24). Your body can be an instrument of great good or evil. Are there any parts of your body that are currently an instrument of evil to serve sin? If so, confess that to Jesus today, and ask him for forgiveness and cleansing and he will give it (1 John 1:9).
Exercise Self-Control Over Your Body
37. 1 Corinthians 9:23-27 CSB
Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize. Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown. So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
These verses come from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church. He is expressing his own attitude about living in service to Jesus. In so doing, he tells us that one of his priorities is to keep his body under strict control. He sees his service to Jesus as comparable to the lifestyle of an athlete—focused and disciplined. Through Paul’s words the Holy Spirit teaches us that keeping our bodies under control is one way we strive to promote faithfulness to Jesus in our lives.
Flee From Sinning with Your Body
38. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 ESV
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 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.
39. Colossians 3:5 NIV
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
You may remember this verse quoted earlier on in the article. The context for the precious truth that our bodies are temples where the Holy Spirit dwells, is actually in an appeal to keep our bodies free from sexual immorality. God designed sex to be enjoyed in context of a life-long covenant between a husband and wife. Any sexual activity outside the marriage covenant is sin. God calls those who trust in Jesus to honor God by not sinning physically with the bodies that he purchased for is own.
Keep Your Body Active
40. 1 Timothy 4:8 ESV
…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.
This sentence from Paul’s first letter to Timothy clearly tells us that bodily training is of some value. Physical exercise is a good thing! It’s not the ultimate good, or to be prioritized above our relationship with God, but it has value. To train our bodies in baseball and ballet and tennis and swimming and running and hiking and biking and climbing and all the like is a worthwhile investment. It refreshes our minds, strengthens our bodies, often can bring relief to our hearts, and teaches us godly virtues like endurance and self-control. Exercise also makes us fit, equipped to serve others in many ways.
At the same time, not everyone can enjoy physical activity. May of us have limitations that make physical exercise difficult or impossible. We must remember that physical exercise isn’t a mandate or a must, it’s a gift to enjoy.
Rid Your Body of Habits That Are Dishonorable
41. 2 Timothy 2:21 ESV
Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
There are honorable and dishonorable ways to use our bodies. We can develop addictions to substances that inhibit sobriety. We can sin sexually with our bodies. We can binge eat food and poorly steward our bodies. Or, we can do things that put our bodies to honorable use. We can coach tennis, make food for our families, work hard in the yard, and take piano lessons. In this Bible verse, the Holy Spirit motivates us to take action. He calls us to cleanse ourselves of what is dishonorable. Why? To be “better people”? So that we live longer? No, so that we are ready to serve Jesus, our Lord and King, ready for the good works he has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
What Did You Learn?
After examining all these Bible verses about health and wellness and the body, what truth most spoke to you?
Consider scanning through the verses again and asking where you need change in your thinking about your body, where you need change in the way you use your body, and where you see God’s goodness in these Scriptures.
As you encountered God’s Word in this article, we pray God’s Spirit would use it, in all its power, to transform you. Our hope is that these Scriptures would cause you to live for God’s glory to a greater degree in the body God has given you.