Are affirmations biblical?

Affirmation can be defined as “a declaration that something is true.” In Christianity, followers of Jesus may publicly or privately speak affirmations related to their faith. Publicly, they may testify to biblical truth in a church setting or in a courtroom. Privately, they may speak God’s promises to remind themselves of His Word. Whether or not an affirmation is biblical depends on whether its content aligns with Scripture.

The Bible records instances of believers making affirmations both privately and publicly. David provides many examples of privately expressed affirmations. For instance, Psalm 23:1 reads, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” Another example is Psalm 42:5, which says, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” In this case, though David is addressing his soul, he is ultimately affirming his hope in God by speaking truth to himself.

The Bible also contains examples of public affirmations of truth. One is Peter’s declaration: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). In addition, scholars believe the New Testament preserves short creeds that the first Christians used to proclaim their faith. The statement “Jesus is Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:3) is one such affirmation. Furthermore, scholars point to other sayings in the New Testament that may have functioned as early affirmations of belief. Two examples are “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5) and “the Lord has risen indeed” (Luke 24:34).

Moreover, Paul mentions verbally affirming the truth of the lordship of Christ: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). These examples show that Christian affirmations are not modern inventions. Instead, truth-affirming statements have been part of the Christian life since the early church.

A common trend in modern self-help is the practice of speaking daily affirmations. Self-affirmations, according to Dr. Tchiki Davis in Psychology Today, are “statements that we say to ourselves that can shift our minds in ways that can make us feel better about ourselves and our lives” (www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/click-here-for-happiness/202105/a-guide-to-affirmations-and-how-to-use-them, accessed 9/22/25). Some people self-affirm while working or driving; others recite affirmations in front of a mirror or write them in a journal. Examples include “I am beautiful,” “I am strong,” and “I can do this.” Some Christians use this method to remind themselves of biblical truth with statements like “I am a child of God,” “I am forgiven,” or “my identity is in Christ.” Such reminders, whether thought, spoken, or written, are not inherently sinful. Their value is based on whether the content of the statements, whether spoken privately or publicly, reflects Scripture.

Even when the affirmation is biblical, we should be careful not to use it as a mantra or invocation. The Bible does not teach the need to verbally affirm God’s promises to claim or activate them. Speaking a biblical affirmation may be a great reminder to ourselves of the promises of God, but there is no inherent power in “positive confession,” and we cannot speak reality into existence. Those who seek to use affirmations to alter reality or to guarantee good fortune are dabbling in mysticism.

Further, the Bible warns against affirmations that are not biblical. False affirmations are dangerous because they deny or distort God’s truth. False prophecy is one form of false affirmation that Jeremiah warns against: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord’” (Jeremiah 23:16). Likewise, Paul warned Timothy about people who wanted to hear teaching that encouraged their desires instead of the truth (2 Timothy 4:3–4). Affirmations rooted in God’s Word build up and bring life, but false ones lead astray.

In conclusion, affirmations are biblical when they reflect God’s revealed truth in Scripture. Biblical affirmations reflect sound doctrine and even testify to the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is nothing in the Bible that requires Christians to speak affirmations, although we should all be ready to confess with our lips what we believe in our hearts (1 Peter 3:15).