44 Bible Verses about Self Sacrifice

For whoever chooses to save his lower life will lose his higher life, but whoever gives up his lower life for my sake will save his higher life.

For you showed sympathy with those who were in prison and cheerfully submitted to the violent seizure of your property, for you knew that you had in yourselves and in heaven one that was lasting.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as a son of Pharaoh's daughter, because he preferred to suffer hardships with the people of God than to have the passing enjoyment that results from sin, and thought the reproach endured for the Christ was greater wealth than all the treasures in Egypt, for he kept his eye upon the reward.read more.
By faith he left Egypt, because he was not afraid of the king's anger, for he persevered as though he were actually seeing Him who is unseen.

Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back here and follow me."

Then Jesus looked at him and loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing. Go, sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me."

When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell everything you have, and distribute the money among the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me."

Sell your property and give to charity. Provide for yourselves purses that will never wear out, riches that never fail in heaven, where a thief cannot come near nor a moth destroy,

Then Peter said to Him, "We have left our very own, homes and all, and have followed you." So He said to them, "I solemnly say to you, there is no one who has given up home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the kingdom of God, who will not receive in return many times more in this world, and in the next eternal life."

Then Peter answered Him, "We have left everything we had and followed you. What then are we to get?" Jesus said to them: "I solemnly say to you, in the new order of life, when the Son of Man shall take His seat on His glorious throne, you too, who have followed me, will sit on twelve thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up home or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms, for my sake, will receive many times as much, and in addition will be in possession of eternal life.

Then Peter started to say to Him, "We have left everything we had and followed you." Jesus said, "I solemnly say to you, there is no one who has given up home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farm for me and for the good news, who will not receive now in this life a hundred times as much in houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, but along with them persecution, and in the world to come eternal life.

And all the believers lived together and held all they had as common goods to be shared by one another. And so they continued to sell their property and goods and to distribute the money to all, as anyone had special need.

Now there was but one heart and soul in the vast number of those who had become believers, and not one of them claimed that anything that he had was his own, but they shared everything that they had as common property. So with great power the apostles continued to give their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's favor rested richly on them all. For none of them was in want, for as many of them as were owners of farms or houses proceeded to sell them, one by one, and continued to bring the money received for the things soldread more.
and to put it at the disposal of the apostles; then distribution was continuously made to everyone in proportion to his need. Now Joseph, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, who by the apostles was named Barnabas, which means Son of Encouragement, sold the farm he had and brought the money and put it at the disposal of the apostles.

Now I am going to tell you, brothers, of God's spiritual blessing which was given in the churches of Macedonia, because in spite of a terrible test of trouble, the mighty flood of their gladness mingling with the depths of their poverty has overflowed and resulted in the abundance of their liberality. For they have given, I can testify, to the utmost of their ability, and even beyond their ability. Of their own accord,read more.
with earnest entreaty, they kept on begging me for the favor of sharing in this service that is being rendered to God's people. They did not do as I expected but even more; they first by God's will gave themselves to the Lord, and then to me;

"Just so, no one of you who does not forsake everything that he has, can be a disciple of mine.

Anybody who loves father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of me,

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and still more, his own life too, he cannot be a disciple of mine.

After this He went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi in his seat at the tax-collector's desk, and He said to him, "Follow me." So he left everything behind, got up and followed Him.

Yes, indeed, I certainly do count everything as loss compared with the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have lost everything, and value it all as mere refuse, in order to gain Christ

I most solemnly say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single grain. But if it does die, it yields a great harvest. Whoever loves his lower life will lose the higher, but whoever hates his lower life in this world preserves the higher for eternal life.

and nobody is worthy of me who does not take up his cross and follow me.

Whoever does not persevere in carrying his own cross and thus following after me, cannot be a disciple of mine.

Then Jesus said to His disciples: "If anyone wants to be my disciple, he must say 'No' to self, put his cross on his shoulders, and keep on following me. For whoever wants to save his higher life will have to give up the lower life, and whoever gives up his lower life for my sake will find the higher life.

Then He called the people to Him along with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wants to be my disciple, he must say, 'No' to self, put the cross on his shoulders, and keep on following me. For whoever wants to save his higher life, will have to give up the lower life, and whoever gives up his lower life for me and for the good news, will save the higher life.

Then He said to them all, "If anyone chooses to be my disciple, he must say 'No' to self, put the cross on his shoulders daily, and continue to follow me. For whoever chooses to save his lower life will lose his higher life, but whoever gives up his lower life for my sake will save his higher life.

Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will preserve it.

We know what love is from the fact that He laid down His life for us; and so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. But if anyone has the world's means of supporting life and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how can love to God remain in him? Dear children, let us stop loving with words or lips alone, but let us love with actions and in truth.

always being exposed to death as Jesus was, so that in my body the life of Jesus may be clearly shown. For all the time I continue to live I am being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that in my mortal lower nature the life of Jesus may be clearly shown.

Yes, indeed, though I am free from any human power, I have made myself a slave to everybody, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I have become like a Jew for the winning of Jews; to men under the law, like one under the law, though I am not under the law myself, to win the men under the law; to men who have no written law, like one without any law, though I am not without God's law but specially under Christ's law, to win the men who have no written law.read more.
To the overscrupulous I have become overscrupulous, to win the overscrupulous; yes, I have become everything to everybody, in order by all means to save some of them. And I do it all for the sake of the good news, so as to share with others in its blessings.

Why too do we ourselves run such risks every hour? I protest, by the boasting which I do about you, my brothers, through our union with Christ Jesus our Lord, I myself run the risk of dying every single day!

Are they ministers of Christ? So am I. I am talking like a man that has gone crazy -- as such I am superior! -- serving Him with labors greater by far, with far more imprisonments, with floggings vastly worse, and often at the point of death. Five times I have taken thirty-nine lashes from the Jews, three times I have been beaten by the Romans, once I was pelted with stones; three times I have been shipwrecked, and once I have spent a day and a night adrift at sea.read more.
I have served Him on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the heathen, dangers in the city, dangers in the desert, dangers at sea, dangers from false brothers, through toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, through many a fasting season, poorly clad and exposed to cold. Besides all other things, there is my concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak too? Who is caused to fall without my being fired with indignation?

So in my own case, I will most happily spend my money and myself for your sakes. If I love you much more than I love others, am I to be loved less by you?

One brother will turn another over to death, and a father his child, and children will take a stand against their parents, and will have them put to death. And you will be hated by all men, because you bear my name, but whoever bears up to the end will be saved.

One brother will turn another over to death, and a father his child, and children will take a stand against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everybody, because you bear my name. But whoever bears up to the end will be saved.

Yes, you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be continuously hated by everyone, because you bear my name.

If I should dole out everything I have for charity, and give my body up to torture in mere boasting pride, but have no love, I get from it no good at all.

except that in town after town the Holy Spirit emphatically assures me that imprisonment and sufferings are awaiting me. But now I count as nothing the sacrifice of my life, if only I can finish my race and render the service entrusted to me by the Lord Jesus, of faithfully telling the good news of God's favor.

Then He walked on a few steps and threw Himself upon His face, and in this attitude continued to pray, and say, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass by me; and yet, I pray, not what I want but what you want."

Then He walked on a few steps and threw Himself upon the ground and kept praying that if it were possible He might escape the hour of agony, and He was saying, "Abba [which means 'Father'], anything is possible for you! Take this cup away from me! Yet, I pray, not what I want but what you want!"

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Yet, not my will but always yours be done!"

Yes, even if I am pouring out my life as a libation on the sacrifice and service your faith is rendering, I am glad to do so and congratulate you upon it;

They continued stoning Stephen as he continued praying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not charge this sin on the book against them!" On saying this he fell asleep in death.

Keep on fostering the same disposition that Christ Jesus had. Though He was existing in the nature of God, He did not think His being on an equality with God a thing to be selfishly grasped, but He laid it aside as He took on the nature of a slave and became like other men.read more.
Because He was recognized as a man, in reality as well as in outward form, He finally humiliated Himself in obedience so as to die, even to die on a cross.

Still others stood the test of taunts and tortures, and even chains and prisons. They were stoned to death, they were tortured to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. With nothing on their bodies but skins of sheep or goats they wandered here and there, destitute, oppressed, mistreated -- men of whom the world was not worthy, though wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground.

Then I saw thrones and those who were seated on them, and permission was granted them to pass judgment, even those who had been beheaded for bearing testimony to Jesus and for preaching the word of God, who refused to worship the wild beast and his statue, and would not let his mark be stamped upon their foreheads and upon their hands. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.