The Best Bible Verses and Encouragement When You Feel Like Giving Up

Inside: The best Bible verses, quotes, and motivation for when you feel like giving up. Sometimes quitting is appropriate but sometimes you just need inspiration.

To the Mom Who Feels like Giving up

Occasionally I’ll hear of a single mother who’s ready to give up. She feels like she can’t make it any longer parenting her child single-handedly, and perhaps God had made a mistake making her a mom, or maybe her mistakes were finally catching up to her.

Sometimes this results in marrying the wrong guy, taking the wrong job, or even giving up custody.

We all feel like giving up sometimes. Whether it be a job, a dream, the demands of parenting, or something bigger. And although sometimes God is calling you to move on, most of the time we need just the encouragement to keep going.

Related: What the Bible Says About Rest for Your Weary Soul

What the World Tells Us About Doing it All

The world likes to tell us that we can do anything and everything we set our minds to – if you just work hard enough, say the right affirmations each day, and believe in yourself.

The problem with this type of thinking is that we can’t do everything. We aren’t made to do everything.

Only with God are all things possible. Only through Him will we have peace. Ask Him to guide your steps, set your priorities straight and release any guilt you carry.

giving up bible verse

Related: Need Lifted Up? 15 Most Powerful Bible Verses About Hope

13 Things to Keep in Mind When You Feel Like Quitting

  1. Know that you aren’t the only one who’s felt this way. But feelings change. Don’t make a permanent decision based on your current feelings.
  2. Have you asked God to guide your moves through the work of the Holy Spirit? The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you if you’ve put your faith in Jesus. Consider if your situation is really beyond what God can do. Our God is a redeemer.
  3. Accept that life doesn’t always make sense. But trust that God has a plan.
  4. The best way to replace the thoughts about your dire situation is to lean into others who are hurting. Sit beside a friend who just lost a family member, volunteer with at-risk kids, or serve food to the homeless. Admittedly, it can be hard to muster the strength to give to others when you feel like giving up. But if you’re at the point of quitting, you owe it to yourself and to try this first.
  5. Read these stories from single moms who have overcome many hardships and made it through to the other side.
  6. List what you are thankful for. Then, ask your kids to tell you three things they love about you. This exercise will warm your heart regardless of your children’s ages.
  7. Adjust your expectations. Single parenthood is not easy. You won’t keep a clean house, always have enough money, get along great with your kids, and co-parenting relationships will be complicated.
  8. We don’t always understand why things happen or why we face such difficulties. It is in these times where your faith has to take over for you. Rest assured that God wouldn’t keep you in a situation that’s beyond Him.
  9. How are you talking to yourself? If you are saying internally, “I can’t do this anymore,” you’re setting yourself up for failure. Instead, replace the negative thoughts and lines in your head with the word of God.
  10. Have you asked for help? Have you exhausted your family, all your friends and sought counseling? There are many low-income alternatives and help available, but you must go searching for it. Whether you need food, therapy, or even someone to watch your kids, – start with local churches.
  11. What gives you life? Can you work it so you can do these things more frequently?
  12. Are you comparing yourself too much? Social media, friends who have what you think is the ideal life. Consider a break from the news or social media.
  13. You can’t keep all these balls up in the air by yourself all the time. Maybe it’s as simple as taking time off work, a break from cleaning your house, or making dinner. Serve cheese and crackers instead. Can someone take your kids just one night? Take some time just for yourself. Even if all you do is sleep or take a bath and watch TV. A break is temporary and may be just what you need.

Related: What it Means to Declutter Your Soul

giving up bible verse

Related: Feeling Stuck? Try These Ideas to Get Moving Again

Related: The 5 Times Moses Questioned His Calling (And Why You Might Be Too!)

15 Hopeful Bible Verses for When You Feel Like Giving Up

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:3-4 NLT 
So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. 1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT 
but those who hope in the Lord
     will renew their strength.
 They will soar on wings like eagles;
     they will run and not grow weary,
     they will walk and not be faint. 
Isaiah 40:31 NIV 

Related: How to Let Things Go to Live a More Free Life

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. 1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT 
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. Romans 5:3-4 NLT 
giving up bible verse
So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Galatians 6:9 NLT
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 NLT

Related: How Single Moms Can Find Confidence In Their Relationships

But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. 2 Chronicles 15:7 ESV
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7 ESV
giving up bible verse
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
 and do not rely on your own understanding;
 think about Him in all your ways,
 and He will guide you on the right paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6 HCSB
Do not be afraid—I am with you!
     I am your God—let nothing terrify you!
 I will make you strong and help you;
     I will protect you and save you.
Isaiah 41:10  GNT
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a] for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 ESV

Related: Feeling Anxious? Bible Verses to Remind You God’s Got This

And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
Matthew 6:30 NLT
The Lord will not reject his people; he will not abandon his special possession.
Psalm 94:14 NLT

Quotes to Remember When You Want to Quit

The moment you’re about to quit is the moment right before the miracle happens. Don’t give up.

~Anonymous

Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever.

~Lance Armstrong

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain [and] difficulty.

~Theodore Roosevelt

Related: 30 More Motivational Quotes When You Feel Like Quitting

The Best Bible Verses and Encouragement When You Feel Like Giving Up