Beware of Making Jesus Your Password

These 75 popular Christian phrases and Bible verses are too predictable to be secure from hackers.

Stephen Smith|January 6, 2017 09:21 AM

At first glance, “john316” looks like a reasonable password.

While it’s a couple characters short of the recommended minimum of 8 to 10, it at least mixes numbers and letters.

But “john316” is not a good choice for keeping your account safe. It’s the most common Bible verse used as a password, according to a new analysis of a list of 32 million passwords leaked in a 2009 data breach.

And beware the power of Jesus’ name—for hackers.

Another too-popular choice is “jesus,” or variants like “jesus777” and “jesus143.” Collectively, more than 21,000 people in the breach used the Son of God’s name as a password, making it the 30th most common password overall, a bit behind “tigger” (No. 22) and ahead of “football” (No. 45).

You want a password to be unguessable. If you use your life verse as your password—say, for your church’s financial software—you’re opening yourself and your church to potential hacking by choosing something easy to predict.

If you do use a Bible reference or something related to Christianity as a password, be sure to include hard-to-guess letters, numbers, or symbols as part of it. Also consider including unrelated words or phrases. The key is to be unpredictable.

Your favorite Bible verse, which you possibly have set as the wallpaper on your phone, is too easy. Similarly, you should avoid using the names of your loved ones, especially if their names are “Nicole” or “Soccer”—the 12th and 13th most popular overall passwords in the list.

Below are the top Christianity-related passwords from the data breach; the last column shows the number of times the password appears in the list.

Rank	Password	Number of users
1.	jesus	21,638
2.	heaven	7,222
3.	faith	5,230
4.	blessed	3,903
5.	christ	3,824
6.	ilovegod	2,396
7.	jesuschrist	1,802
8.	ilovejesus	1,773
9.	godisgood	1,683
10.	god	1,297
11.	church	1,270
12.	godislove	1,260
13.	godbless	1,241
14.	shalom	1,125
15.	jesusfreak	950
16.	faithful	887
17.	lovegod	804
18.	prayer	750
19.	blessing	711
20.	savior	615
21.	praise	601
22.	jehovah	582
23.	lord	578
24.	jesusc	561
25.	salvation	539
26.	heavenly	531
27.	jesussaves	511
28.	bless	484
29.	jesuss	480
30.	jesuslovesme	463
31.	godlovesme	458
32.	bible	440
33.	yeshua	433
34.	worship	430
35.	lovejesus	423
36.	jesusislord	417
37.	pastor	404
38.	godslove	403
39.	godis	361
40.	blessings	360
41.	myjesus	357
42.	jesusis	350
43.	almighty	346
44.	agape	338
45.	godschild	336
46.	yahweh	333
47.	iluvgod	333
48.	forgiven	321
49.	iluvjesus	312
50.	mylord	303

Note: This list lowercases passwords, and removes leading and trailing numbers and special characters from them. For example, the password “jesus” appears in the data breach list about 6,500 times, while “jesus1” appears almost 4,000 times and “jesus7” almost 900. All these variations, and more, appear in the line for “jesus.”

Here are the most-common Bible verses used as passwords; “john316” would appear at No. 15 in the above list.

Rank	Password	Number of users	Text (NIV)
1.	john316	1,075	For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
2.	psalm23	278	The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing…
3.	phil413	199	I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
4.	jer2911	147	For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
5.	john11	122	In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
6.	psalm91	117	Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty…
7.	proverbs31	106	A wife of noble character who can find?…
8.	acts238	83	Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
9.	romans828	81	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.
10.	psalm139	68	You have searched me, LORD, and you know me…
11.	jeremiah2911	63	For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12.	genesis11	49	In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
13.	psalm374	43	Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
14.	psalm27	41	The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
15.	john1010	32	The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
16.	psalm121	31	I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?…
17.	psalm37	31	Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong…
18.	proverbs356	30	Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…
19.	prov356	28	Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…
20.	gal220	28	I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me…
21.	1tim412	28	Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
22.	romans122	26	Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…
23.	john101	26	Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.
24.	psalm100	25	Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth…
25.	john146	24	Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.