There is a wide gulf between marking a day and celebrating it. One acknowledges its passing while the other honors it. The biblical record shows no man or woman of God celebrating a birthday. Thus, birthday celebrations do not have a God-ordained origin.

One could even say a birthday celebration goes against God’s instruction in Ecclesiastes 7:1, where Solomon writes, “The day of death [is better] than the day of one’s birth.” God’s perspective on this matter, as in all things, is far higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). He has more joy when we leave this world, having overcome it, than when we enter it (see Isaiah 57:1-2; Philippians 1:21-23). God’s perspective seems to be, “Why celebrate the day all your troubles began? Far better to celebrate the day they ended in victory!”

Let’s see birthday celebrations through religions:

Judaism
In Judaism, the rabbis are divided about celebrating this custom, although it is accepted by the majority of the faithful. In the Torah the only mention that is made of the birthday, refers to the celebration of Pharaoh’s birthday in Egypt, as recorded in Genesis (Parashat Vaieshev) 40:20.

Christianity
Origen in his commentary “On Levites” wrote that Christians should not only refrain from celebrating their birthdays, but should look on them with disgust as a pagan custom. Saint’s days were typically celebrated on the anniversary of their martyrdom or death, considered the preparation for their entrance into Heaven.

Jehovah’s Witnesses
Jehovah’s Witnesses abstain from it for a number of reasons including its pagan origins, its rejection by early Christians as originally being a pagan tradition, because no Christians are reported to celebrate their birthdays in the Bible, because the Bible valorizes death over birth, and because some customs, such as making a wish while blowing out candles on a birthday cake, are associated with superstition and magic.

Seventh-day Adventists
Seventh-day Adventists abstain from celebrating birthdays for personal reasons.

Amish Communities
Amish communities do not celebrate birthdays due to their focus on simplicity and community rather than individual recognition.

Conservative Quackers
Traditional Quackers do not celebrate birthdays, viewing such celebrations as unnecessary or contrary to their values of simplicity and humanity.

Islam
The birthday does not reflect Islamic tradition, and because of this, the majority of Muslims refrain from celebrating it.