100 Bible Verses about Self-control Proverbs

Proverbs 25:28 ESV / 26 helpful votes

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

Proverbs 16:32 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

Proverbs 14:29 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

James 1:19 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

Galatians 5:22-23 ESV / 7 helpful votes

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Proverbs 29:11 ESV / 6 helpful votes

A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

Proverbs 12:18 ESV / 6 helpful votes

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 17:27 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

2 Peter 1:6 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,

1 Peter 1:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 3:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

1 Timothy 3:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ...

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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.

Romans 13:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

Romans 12:21 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

John 15:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Matthew 6:33 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 4:1-11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple ...

Proverbs 14:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 4:1-27 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. ...

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. 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. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

Exodus 20:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Revelation 3:1-22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. ...

1 John 4:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

1 John 4:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

2 Peter 1:5-7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

1 Peter 4:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

1 Peter 3:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

1 Peter 3:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

1 Peter 2:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ...

James 5:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

James 4:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 1:19-20 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Hebrews 13:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Titus 2:11-14 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Titus 2:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.

Titus 1:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

Ephesians 5:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Ephesians 4:32 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Galatians 6:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 5:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 9:27 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

1 Corinthians 8:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

1 Corinthians 7:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

1 Corinthians 7:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.

1 Corinthians 7:1-40 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ...

1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

1 Corinthians 6:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 12:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Romans 12:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

John 13:35 ESV / 2 helpful votes

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34 ESV / 2 helpful votes

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Matthew 22:37-39 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 18:15-35 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ...

Matthew 7:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 6:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Isaiah 40:31 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 5:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them!

Proverbs 29:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Proverbs 29:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression.

Proverbs 27:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

Proverbs 23:20-21 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.

Proverbs 22:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 20:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

Proverbs 15:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

Proverbs 15:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 14:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes

In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.

Proverbs 12:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

Proverbs 12:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

Proverbs 12:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.

Proverbs 11:1-31 ESV / 2 helpful votes

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness. ...

Proverbs 10:27 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.

Proverbs 5:1-23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; ...

Proverbs 4:26 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.

Proverbs 3:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,

Proverbs 3:9-10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 1:1-33 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, ...

Psalm 139:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 27:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 23:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 19:14 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Joshua 1:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Leviticus 19:32 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

Suggest a Verse


Visit the Bible online to search for words if you don’t know the specific passage your’re looking for.