Hello readers!
Last week, I started counting down my top ten favorite Bible verses. This week, I’m revealing the last five, ending with my favorite verse of all. Now, I said this last week, but I’ll say it again; I know that all of my readers are not Christians and that a lot of you believe other things. And that’s fine! I’m glad that you’re here on my blog, reading this anyway. I hope that you can get something out of it, no matter where you are in your spiritual journey. The Bible is a book that I, personally, turn to for wisdom, and I think that it has many great things in it that can benefit all kinds of people.
So without further ado, let’s begin!
5. Deuteronomy 6:5 NLT (New Living Translation)
“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.”
I think that this verse is truly beautiful because of its message of love. As a follower of Christ, I sometimes need a reminder about my main purpose in life. I was made to love the Lord, my Father. What God wants most from me is not that I follow all of the rules or give him compliments, but that I love him completely. When I do that, the other things follow. When I love my God completely, I can’t help but to lavish him with praise and mold my life to bring him glory. My ultimate goal every day should be to love the Lord with all of my heart, all of my soul, and all of my strength. What does that look like, you might ask? It looks like me making it a priority to spend time with him each day, having a heart that’s grateful for everything he has given me, and striving to bring him joy by reflecting his love to other people. It means that I reflect on his awesomeness and try my best to share him with the world.
4. Philippians 4:6 NLT
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”
As much as I love this verse, it is a little bit of a challenge to actually apply it consistently. The beginning alone is a huge task to accomplish: “Don’t worry about anything.” Honestly, is that even possible? For me at least, worrying about things is just a natural response to life. There are so many different things to worry about, from the tiny to the gigantic. Am I going to make it to this meeting on time? How am I going to be able to finish all of this work by the deadline? What if we don’t make enough money to pay the bills this month? Will I ever achieve my dreams? With all of these things to worry about, and many more, the suggestion to “not worry about anything” seems like some kind of joke.
But the verse doesn’t end there. It gives us another option. We are to pray about everything and tell God what we need. When God comes into the picture, this whole “not worrying” thing gets a bit easier. First of all, God is really big. He can handle our problems without even breaking a sweat. Even though some obstacles may seem insurmountable to us, to God they are little more than a speck of dust to be blown out of the way. Second of all, God is in control. While at times it may seem that our world has spiraled out of control, or that God has abandoned us, we can trust in his promises that are found in the Bible. He promises us that he is in control and that he will never forsake us. Just ask any Christian who has been through a trial and discovered that God was by his or her side the entire time. He is in control, and he is always with those of us who’ve given our lives to him. Third of all, he has a plan. God has a good plan for each one of our lives, and he will turn those plans into reality if we let him. When bad things happen in life, we can rest assured that it is all a part of the plan.
The last part of this verse reminds us to thank God for all that he has done. At first, this may seem like a random thing to tack on the end of the verse. If you think about it though, it is easy to see why this is so important. When we take a moment to stop worrying, give our problems to God, and thank him for what he has done, it is easy to start feeling more confident about our situation. By recognizing all of the good things that God has done for me, I start to really understand that I don’t need to worry about anything. After all, he has always taken care of me in the past. I know that he will continue to take care of me now.
Even though as a flawed human I will probably never stop worrying, this verse gives me a goal to aspire to. When I do worry about things, I can think of this verse and remind myself that God is in control, and that he will take care of things. It helps me to relax, step back, and let my Heavenly Father do his thing.
3. Psalms 103:2-5 NLT
“Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!”
This verse is full of great things. It’s a guide for living with joy, a reminder of our redeemed status, and a promise of great things to come. Like in the two verses above, we are told to praise the Lord and thank him for what he has given us. Then it goes on to remind us that through Jesus, we are completely forgiven for all of our misdeeds. There is no need to feel guilty for the mistakes of our past (or present, or future). We are forgiven!
It also reminds us that God wants to heal us physically. Now, this is a subject that I would probably need to do a lot of studying and research to understand. Because the truth is, there are many Christians who wholeheartedly love God and who still suffer from physical afflictions. Christians get sick and die just like anybody else. Little children get sick and die, even though they are innocent and God loves them. At the same time, the Bible seems to suggest that through God, we can receive healing of any and all diseases. How can these two facts exist at the same time? While I don’t have a good answer to this question right now, I do believe two things to be true. One is that God loves each of us and does not want to see us suffer. For some people, that may mean that he literally heals their diseases while they are living here on earth. The second is that when we get to Heaven, we will be perfect and healthy and complete. There will be no suffering there. So in the end, all of those who accept Jesus as their savior will be healed, and that is a guarantee. That, at least, can be a comfort to those who suffer from illnesses in this life.
The rest of the verse proclaims God’s love for us and his desire to fill our lives with goodness. He wants to give us the gifts of joy, peace, and prosperity. For those that choose to let God into their lives, these gifts are given freely. He wants goodness for all of us, because he loves us so much. This verse is a beautiful reminder of that life and hope-giving truth.
2. Isaiah 41:10 NIV (New International Version)
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
This verse is my second favorite of all because I have depended on it for strength in times of struggle. Particularly, this is the verse that my husband and I relied on when we were feeling unsupported in our decision to get married. We struggled with feeling rejected and betrayed by several different people in our lives, but this verse reminded us that we did not need to be dismayed. God promised that he would strengthen us, help us, and hold us up, and he did. In fact, he brought the right people into our lives and surrounded us with support and love so that we could thoroughly enjoy the celebration on our wedding day. Since then, God has been continuing to strengthen us in our marriage. He is the reason that we know we will not fail, because He has promised to hold up our marriage with his righteous hand.
1. Romans 8:38 NLT
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
This is my favorite verse in the Bible (at least so far) for obvious reasons. It is the most comforting, empowering, and encouraging Bible verse that I know of. It is a clear and certain statement of our position in God’s family. We are inseparable from His love! Nothing can ever change or take away the truth that God loves us beyond reason or understanding. We have Jesus Christ to thank for that, because he took all of our shortcomings on his own shoulders and made us perfect in God’s eyes. This applies to those of us who know and love Jesus, and those of us who don’t. Jesus died for all of us, whether or not we accept it. It’s up to us to choose to love Him back and step into the relationship that he longs to have with us. If we do, then we get to enjoy all of the other amazing gifts and promises that he has for us. How incredibly blessed we all are!
Thank you for reading about my favorite verses. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post a reply below. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Have an excellent week.