What does the Bible say about basketball?
While basketball as a sport wasn’t invented until 1891 and therefore isn’t mentioned explicitly in the Bible, many of its themes resonate deeply with biblical principles. Scripture offers timeless insights on perseverance, teamwork, discipline, triumph over adversity, and maintaining focus—all of which align closely with the spirit of the game. These verses can serve as meaningful inspiration for players, coaches, and fans alike, offering a spiritual perspective on the challenges and victories experienced on and off the court.
1. James 1:12 (NIV)
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
2. Galatians 6:9 (ESV)
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
3. Romans 5:3-4 (NKJV)
“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
4. Hebrews 10:36 (NASB)
“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”
5. Joshua 1:9 (KJV)
“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
6. 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NLT)
“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!”
7. Philippians 3:14 (Holman)
“I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”
8. 2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
9. Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
“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.”
10. James 1:2-4 (NKJV)
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
11. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NASB)
“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”
12. 1 Corinthians 3:9 (KJV)
“For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.”
13. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT)
“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”
14. 1 Peter 4:8-10 (NIV)
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
15. Romans 12:16 (ESV)
“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.”
16. 1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)
“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
17. Proverbs 27:17 (NASB)
“Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
18. Philippians 2:2 (Holman)
“Complete my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal.”
19. 1 Corinthians 12:12 (NIV)
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.”
20. Ephesians 4:16 (ESV)
“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.”
21. Hebrews 12:11 (NKJV)
“Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
22. Proverbs 12:1 (NASB)
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.”
23. Proverbs 13:24 (KJV)
“He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”
24. Ephesians 6:4 (NLT)
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”
25. 1 Corinthians 9:27 (NIV)
“No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
26. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
“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.”
27. Proverbs 25:28 (Holman)
“A man who does not control his temper is like a city whose wall is broken down.”
28. 1 Corinthians 9:25 (NKJV)
“And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.”
29. Proverbs 6:6-8 (NASB)
“Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest.”
30. Titus 2:11-12 (NIV)
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”
31. 1 John 5:4 (ESV)
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
32. Romans 8:37 (NKJV)
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
33. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NASB)
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
34. John 16:33 (KJV)
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
35. Deuteronomy 20:4 (NLT)
“For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!”
36. Philippians 4:13 (Holman)
“I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
37. 2 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.”
38. Psalm 60:12 (ESV)
“With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.”
39. 1 John 4:4 (NKJV)
“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
40. Revelation 3:21 (NASB)
“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
41. Proverbs 16:3 (KJV)
“Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.”
42. Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT)
“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
43. Colossians 3:2 (NIV)
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
44. Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
45. Psalm 37:4-5 (NKJV)
“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”
46. Habakkuk 2:2 (NASB)
“Then the Lord answered me and said, ‘Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run.'”
47. Luke 14:28 (Holman)
“For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”
48. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
49. Proverbs 21:5 (ESV)
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”
50. Isaiah 26:3 (KJV)
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
