In a world that constantly emphasizes self-care, it’s natural to wonder: What does the Bible say about self-care? The topic of self-care is everywhere, and yet, biblical self-care invites us into something deeper. While the world often focuses on pampering or indulging ourselves, the Word of God encourages us to look at self-care through a lens of spiritual growth, balance, and rest in our Heavenly Father.
Self-care. If you tried to avoid thinking about it, you wouldn’t be able to. It’s all over social media, woven into conversations both inside and outside of the church. Everyone is quick to offer their own idea of self-care with the latest diet trend, their favorite solitary place, the best Netflix shows to binge on, DIY spa days, or their favorite DIY bath bombs. We’re naturally drawn to exploring new ways to rest, recharge, and meet our physical needs.
But what does the Bible say about self-care? Is it even something in the Bible? Let’s explore what the Bible says about caring for yourself and we are instructed to care for ourselves in a Gospel centered way.
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The True Problem of Self-Care
We love to explore ways of self-care. We must. We are so depleted. I have four little children with one still growing in my belly. Their ages currently are 7 months, 2, 5, and 6. Our fifth will be 12 months apart from our 7-month-old and the anxiety I have with that is great as I already struggle with being a full-time working (personal business and traditional job), homeschooling, and homesteading mama.
I feel it. The dishes pile up. The toys get scattered. The bickering starts. The next meal needs to be prepared. A Slack message notification from work pops up. Grocery shopping. Vacuuming. An Etsy shop message rings through my phone (that has to be responded to or it affects my shop rating!) A question about the archaeological evidence for Moses parting the Red Sea. Reading picture books. A math question comes up from my oldest. Playing make-believe. Kissing boo-boos. Another Slack message from work.
My role requires more than just physical energy; it’s a constant call to serve my family and reflect the love of Christ Jesus.
It’s a day full of others’ needs and things drawing from a finite well of capacity that we have, and – at the end of the day – we’re empty. To make matters worse, we are usually trying to be a godly mother in a very ungodly world. We are left drained, empty, and trying to fill ourselves up with all the wrong and wordly things.
So, I’m with you. I know we need it. We’re only human beings. The world’s solutions to this depletion—like scrolling on social media, zoning out, or indulging in self-help methods—can only take us so far. We need self-care that truly refuels us in a way that aligns with biblical principles and God’s call on our lives.
But here’s the kicker for me: I am not good at self-care. The true problem of self-care is that we are not good at it, and we are not doing it right!
Can any of you relate to this? I pursue it, and I know the importance of self-care, but I just don’t do it well. I find myself repeatedly sitting down with every intention of pouring back into what’s been withdrawn, only to feel emptier than when I started.
I will crash on my bed after a rough day with a Netflix show, and I just don’t feel like I have any more capacity at the end of it. The things that I turn to so often to fill me back up just end up leaving me right where I was, or – worse – they deplete me even further.
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.
1 Corinthains 6:19-20 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.
1 Timothy 4:8 ESV
Biblical self-care calls us to approach rest from a different perspective. Our self-care should point us back to the glory of God, not just fulfill a selfish ambition.
Learning ‘what the Bible says about self-care’ is particularly a tricky thing for a mom with young children. The days can seem long and the rewards far in-between. That is one of the main reasons I wrote “Cultivating a Healing Home.” It’s for you mama. Amid all the motherhood chaos, come back to the Bible as we seek our Father in heaven.
What is Effective Self-Care?
What I find that I need is to learn what good, quality, and effective self-care really is. I pour out so much, and I simply can’t waste my time and energy on something that won’t actively refill me. I am in a busy season of motherhood with young children, homeschooling, and working, and I know that those moments to take time for myself are exceedingly rare. I don’t want to squander them.
We all have limited time.
I need to discover ways to take care of myself that will tend to my actual needs, not leaving me dry and empty.
As we are going to discover, effective self-care is more about my need for God to be reestablished in my life, and less about satisfying personal desires.
What are the Benefits of Self-Care?
So, let’s first ask ourselves a baseline question: Why do we need self-care? What is the real need that we face?
From the get-go of Creation, we see a created order established with the setting a part of a day of rest. He – the Creator – is God, and we – the Creation – are not.
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
– Genesis 2:2-3 NIV
Our rest that we need was modeled by Him. He is a powerful, strong, and perfect God, so He never needed to rest on that seventh day, but He established a precedent for us. We need rest. We need to care for ourselves because we are the finite ones.
So, the real need that we face seems to be to reestablish our place in that created order. This is where our need for self-care comes in. We need space to set aside our busy lives, our striving, and our distractions and remember that we are not God. The need is not to zone out in front of a TV or satisfy our sweet tooth or take a vacation. Our need is to remember our humanity, humble ourselves before the only One who is really in control, and look to our Creator God to refill us in our place of need.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it– the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Romans 3:21-25a ESV
What Does the Bible Say about Self-Care?
If this is so, then I think this changes what I often think of as self-care. If my need is for God to reestablish His position as Lord in my life and refill me, then I should look to the things that accomplish that purpose. This wouldn’t necessarily be the things that give my brain a break or elicit perfect quiet or satisfy my own personal desires. I ought to look for what God can use to humble, cleanse, and fill me.
As many of you know, I love homemade cooking and baking. I also love the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle and its teachings on understanding Biblical eating and healthy food. Sometimes after a meal that is overindulgent, I will do something on the THM plan called a Deep S meal. This meal is meant to focus on rich fats, clean proteins, and ample veggies. The purpose is to reset your body, and metabolism, and refuel the body with the nutrients it really needs.
The most obvious scenario when this happens is after the holidays. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth any longer, my pregnancies have changed my taste and cravings. However, I love salty stuff and although most people think of the holidays as overindulgence in sweets, I’ve got no temptation with that. But put in front of me a platter of cheesy goodness and crackers/chips, now that is the real temptation and can be just as overindulgent as sweets.
After the holidays we need to rid our physical bodies of whatever improper nutrition we’ve consumed and fuel our bodies with proper nutrition. It wouldn’t make sense to just focus on one or the other. We need both.
The same is true with self-care. We need to truly feed ourselves well – stepping back from the things emptying us and allowing God to fill us back up. Flushing out the toxins, refilling ourselves with the things of God.
So, what does this look like? How is this practically accomplished in the importance of self-care?
The good news for us is that our perfect Creator God took on human flesh and lived a life that we can look to as a model. So, what did He do?
Did Jesus Practice Self-Care?
Jesus often went away to pray. He woke up early (Mark 1:35), He went off alone (Mark 6:45-46), and He would spend time with God if He needed to (Luke 6:12). He didn’t just close Himself off in a room to get a little quiet, to seek a little space, and to get a break. He had work to do – important and pressing work.
In His humanity, He sought a place to go to not to get a break but to be refilled to keep doing His work. Like a cleanse, he needed to step away from something for a time and be filled up with what was needed – not for personal gain but to keep going.
See the Bible verses in God’s Word below that emphasize Jesus’ time alone.
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
Mark 1:35 ESV
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
Mark 6:45-46 ESV
In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
Luke 6:12 ESV
For those of you, like me, who are moms of young children, here is some tough news for you: there is no real break. 24/7, we are on call to do this important ministry called motherhood. Care of others comes before the care of self. What we need is not to take a vacation from motherhood but to go to the ultimate Source to give us everything we need to keep going.
And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
Mark 6:31 ESV
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
Practicing Gospel-Centered Self-Care
So, ask yourself: what really pours into you? What fills your heart back up and gives you the capacity to keep going?
For me, my self-care might look like 20 minutes of jogging outside or on my elliptical. The little time I take for my physical health helps me focus back on Jesus as I listen to worship music. I like to take my kids outside for walks and recite Scripture that I’ve memorized to them (and to myself!). My husband will also take the kids on weekends so I can head to Target and walk around listening to a gospel-centered podcast. There is great power in intentionally spending time with Jesus, regardless of how it practically looks.
I also like to focus on pockets of peace throughout the day, which are small moments to reset in calmness and peace. More about that here.
Note- a great resource on spiritual disciplines is this book by Barbara Huges.
I have also learned that I need to be flexible. What I want is a weekend-long retreat to just sit with God’s Word and be with the Lord, but I can’t do that right now. I need to be content with the little moments in the middle of the day when my spiritual needs can be met in unconventional ways. I can’t avoid letting God pour into me just because it won’t be “ideal.” I have learned to be content with the way that it looks in this season. God can use it all.
And I must remind myself constantly: good and fun things aren’t always the same as restorative and refueling things. Don’t get me wrong – I like chocolate, Netflix, and pampering products just as much as the next person. I enjoy them immensely. But I can’t mistake them for the things that will truly bring me the rest and the care that I need. They ought to supplement, and never replace, going to the Father. He is the only adequate refueling station to meet our real need.
God knows our hearts. He formed us from the start. The benefit of this is that the Creator God knows His Creation better than anyone else, and we have direct access to His wisdom whenever we need it. So, ask your Creator to do what only He can: fill you up to the capacity to keep doing what He has for you to do.
What does the Bible say about self-care? Plenty, but as is always the case, it’s more about glorifying God than about self-fulfilling us. If you need to take away anything from this article, I’d read that last sentence again, I think that sums it up best.
Finding True Rest in God
So, what is the biblical perspective on self-care? It’s finding rest not in worldly comforts but in the peace of God that sustains us. The Holy Bible calls us to a rest that fills us with God’s Spirit, empowering us to handle the trials of life with a firm foundation. Our quiet times, prayer, and fellowship with the Lord equip us for this present life and the one to come. So whether we eat, drink, or find rest, may we do all things for the glory of God, honoring Him as the source of all we need.
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