Bible Verses about Grief to Help You Work Through Loss

Though the five stages of grief laid out by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross are useful to help us when we are trying to make sense of our grief, the truth is that grief is a little messy and it doesn’t follow a set pattern. The powerful emotions unleashed by the loss of a loved one will ebb and flow in ways that don’t always make sense.

Even for the believer in Jesus Christ, grief will come, and often in unpredictable ways. A scent, a song, a familiar sight – anything can send waves of grief washing over us with thoughts of the loved one we lost.

Walking through grief.

Though we may know that losing our loved ones is a part of life, knowing that fact and having an assurance of heaven doesn’t make it any easier to endure the loss. Death feels so deeply personal and seems so stunningly final that nothing can prepare us emotionally for its arrival.

Whether we have experienced much loss in our lives, or whether we are new to grief does not make us get used to losing a loved one. We still come to grief and loss with our many questions, pain, and confusion.

Whether the loss you’ve experienced is a recent one or not, was expected or sudden, one important part of the healing process comes from walking with Scripture. It can help you to gain comfort, peace, and a measure of understanding about death that may seem only tragic and senseless.

As painful as grief might be, we need to allow ourselves to go through it because it is a necessary part of our healing. If we try to run from our grief, we are running from the very thing that can help us to work through the pain of our loss. When we come to God and use Scripture and prayer for our healing, our grief can gain a purpose, because grieving is the process that God uses in our lives to bring us to a place of wholeness.

Bible verses about grief to help you work through loss.

May the following verses bless, comfort you, and give you the words to say when you lack your own to express your grief or your hope.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ – Revelation 21:1-4, NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28, NIV

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. – Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, NIV

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 27:1, NIV

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. – Philippians 4:6-8, ESV

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. – Matthew 5:4, NIV

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. – Psalm 34:18, NIV

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. – Psalm 147:3, NIV

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. – John 14:1, NIV

Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’ – John 11:25-27, NIV

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; and it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. – 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, ESV

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. – 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NIV

We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. – 2 Corinthians 5:8, NIV

If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. – Romans 14:8, NIV

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, NIV

For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love. – Lamentations 3:31-32, ESV

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. – Psalm 46:1, ESV

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. – Psalm 116:15, ESV

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. – Psalm 73:26, NIV

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39, ESV

The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death. – Isaiah 57:1-2, NIV

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. – 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV

If you need additional help and support beyond these Bible verses about grief, don’t hesitate to reach out to me or one of the other Christian counselors in our online counselor directory. In counseling sessions, your counselor will address the specific points of grief from which you suffer and offer you avenues to hope and healing. Give us a call today to learn more about grief recovery through Christian counseling.