What does the Bible say about birthdays?
Is celebrating birthdays ok to do biblically? What can we learn about birthdays in the Bible?
Christian quotes
“May the light of Jesus shine through you on your birthday.”
“You have all that pertains to life and godliness. May this New Year usher you into more of God’s arrangements for you. Happy Birthday!”
God makes all things beautiful in His own time. As you add to your age, may his newness overshadow you and all that is yours.
“In all the hugs you get today, may you also feel the embrace of the love of the Lord.”
Celebrating birth
The birth of a new baby has always been a reason to celebrate. Let’s look at a few times it was mentioned in scripture. Let’s praise the Lord for every birth. God is worthy to be praised for each and every moment for all of eternity. We are commanded to praise Him, because He is so worthy and holy.
1) Psalm 118:24 “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
2) Psalm 32:11 “Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones.”
3) 2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
4) Psalm 105:1 “Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples.”
5) Psalm 106:1 “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
6) Isaiah 12:4 “And in that day you will say, Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember His name is exalted.”
7) Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.”
Every day is a blessing
Praise the Lord each and every day, for each day is a precious gift from Him.
8) Lamentations 3:23 “They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
9) Psalm 91:16 “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
10) Psalm 42:8 “The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in my night. A prayer to the God of my life.”
11) Isaiah 60:1 “Airse, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”
12) Psalm 115:15 “May you be blessed of the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.”
13) Psalm 65:11 “You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.”
Enjoy life and make the most of every moment
We have been given the gift of Joy. True joy comes from knowing that He is faithful. Even on days that are difficult and overwhelming – we can have Joy in the Lord. Take each moment as a gift from Him – because of His mercy alone do you draw breath.
14) Ecclesiastes 8:15 “So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.”
15) Ecclesiastes 2:24 “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.”
16) Ecclesiastes 11:9 “You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.””
17) Proverbs 5:18 “Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth.”
18) Ecclesiastes 3:12 “I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime.”
Blessings for others
Birthdays are a wonderful time to be able to minster to others. A day to celebrate those whom we love.
19) Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
20) James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
21) Proverbs 22:9 “He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor.”
22) 2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”
God’s plan for you
God has orchestrated every situation that come your way. There is nothing that happens that is not outside of His control, and there is nothing that takes him by surprise. God is gently and lovingly working in your life to transform you into an image of His Son.
23) Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
24) Job 42:2 “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”
25) Proverbs 16:1 “The plans of the heart belong to a man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.”
26) Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Fearfully and wonderfully made by God
Birthdays are a celebration that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. God Himself has woven our body together. He has created us and knew us in the womb.
27) Psalm 139:14 “I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well.”
28) Psalm 139:13-16 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
29) Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
30) Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Trusting in God daily
The days are long and difficult. We are constantly under tremendous pressure. The Bible tells us on numerous occasions that we are not to be fearful, but trusting the Lord daily.
31) Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
32) Psalm 37:4-6 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”
33) Psalm 9:10 “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”
34) Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
God’s steadfast love endures forever
God is abundantly merciful, and kind. His love is always the same. It is not based on what we do or don’t do. He lavishes His love on us for the sake of His Son. His love will never falter or fade because it is an aspect of His nature and character.
35) Psalm 136:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
36) Psalm 100:5 “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
37) Psalm 117:1-2 “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!
38) Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
39) Psalm 86:15 “But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, Slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth.”
40) Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
41) Psalm 149:5 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.
42) Psalm 103:17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children.
God will be with you forever
God is gracious and patient. He wants a relationship with you. We were created to have a relationship with Him. And when we get to heaven we are going to do just that.
43) John 14:6 “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever.”
44) Psalm 91:16 “I’ll fill you full with old age. I’ll show you my salvation.”
45) I Corinthians 1:9 “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Christ
The birth of Christ was celebrated. God sent a multitude of angels to sing on the day His Son was born.
46) Luke 2:13-14 “And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
47) Psalm 103:20 “Bless the Lord you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His Word, obeying the voice of His word!”
48) Psalm 148:2 “Praise Him all His angels; praise Him all His hosts!”
49) Matthew 3:17 “And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
50) John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Conclusion
Birthdays are not mentioned by name in the Bible. But we can know that they were at least occasionally celebrated. People had to know how old they were – or else how old would we know that Methuselah was, and the date had to be able to be significant enough – and plausibly, a celebration would help one to remember. We also know that the Jewish tradition is to celebrate a bar/bat mitzva, which marked a boy/girl leaving childhood behind and stepping into adulthood. And there is one verse in the book of Job, thought to be the oldest book in the Bible, that could be a record of birthdays being celebrated:
Job 1:4 “His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.”
