60 Bible Verses about Unselfishness

I can do nothing of my own accord; I pass judgment on men as I am taught by God, and my judgment is just, because my aim is not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Christ certainly did not please himself, but, as it is written, The reproaches of those who denounced Thee have fallen upon me. ??4 All such words were written of old for our instruction, that by remaining stedfast and drawing encouragement from the scriptures we may cherish hope.

Then Jesus called his disciples and said, "I am sorry for the crowd; they have been three days with me now, and they have nothing to eat. I will not send them away starving, in case they faint on the road."

the Father had put everything into his hands ??knowing that he had come from God and was going to God, he rose from table, laid aside his robe, and tied a towel round him, then poured water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, wiping them with the towel he had tied round him.

(You know how gracious our Lord Jesus Christ was; rich though he was, he became poor for the sake of you, that by his poverty you might be rich.)

not so with you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of man has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

not so with you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever of you wants to be first must be your slave; for the Son of man himself has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Treat one another with the same spirit as you experience in Christ Jesus. Though he was divine by nature, he did not set store upon equality with God but emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant; born in human guiseread more.
and appearing in human form, he humbly stooped in his obedience even to die, and to die upon the cross.

This is why my Father loves me, because I lay down my life to take it up again. No one takes it from me, I lay it down of my own accord: I have power to lay it down and also power to take it up again; I have my Father's orders for this.

For when we were still in weakness, Christ died in due time for the ungodly. For the ungodly! Why, a man will hardly die for the just ??though one might bring oneself to die, if need be, for a good man. But God proves his love for us by this, that Christ died for us when we were still sinners.

First and foremost, I passed on to you what I had myself received, namely, that Christ died for our sins as the scriptures had said,

for I am controlled by the love of Christ, convinced that as One has died for all, then all have died,

who died for us that waking in life or sleeping in death we should live together with him.

He committed no sin, no guile was ever found upon his lips; he was reviled and made no retort, he suffered and never threatened, but left everything to Him who judges justly; he bore our sins in his own body on the gibbet, that we might break with sin and live for righteousness; and by his wounds you have been healed.

Christ himself died for sins, once for all, a just man for unjust men, that he might bring us near to God; in the flesh he was put to death but he came to life in the Spirit.

the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all": ??in due time this was attested,

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me;

Then he called the crowd to him with his disciples and said to them, "If anyone wishes to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and so follow me;

He said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross day after day, and so follow me;

for the Son of man himself has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

knowing as we do that our old self has been crucified with him in order to crush the sinful body and free us from any further slavery to sin

and that he died for all in order to have the living live no longer for themselves but for him who died and rose for them.

you must lay aside the old nature which belonged to your former course of life, that nature which crumbles to ruin under the passions of moral deceit,

Tell no lies to one another; you have stripped off the old nature with its practices,

As life means Christ to me, so death means gain. But then, if it is to be life here below, that means fruitful work for me. So ??well, I cannot tell which to choose; I am in a dilemma between the two. My strong desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far the best.read more.
But for your sakes it is necessary I should live on here below.

But for Christ's sake I have learned to count my former gains a loss; indeed I count anything a loss, compared to the supreme value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have lost everything (I count it all the veriest refuse) in order to gain Christ and be found at death in him, possessing no legal righteousness of my own but the righteousness of faith in Christ, the divine righteousness that rests on faith.read more.
I would know him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, with my nature transformed to die as he died, to see if I too can attain the resurrection from the dead.

and each with an eye to the interests of others as well as to his own. Treat one another with the same spirit as you experience in Christ Jesus.

Well, if I have washed your feet, I who am your Lord and Teacher, you are bound to wash one another's feet; for I have been setting you an example, that you should do what I have done to you.

We know what love is by this, that He laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for the brotherhood.

We love, because He loved us first. If anyone declares, 'I love God,' and yet hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who will not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot possibly love the God whom he has never seen. And we get this command from him, that he who loves God is to love his brother as well.

But the harvest of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, good temper, kindliness, generosity, fidelity, gentleness, self-control: ??there is no law against those who practise such things. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its emotions and passions.read more.
As we live by the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit; let us have no vanity, no provoking, no envy of one another.

Put affection into your love for the brotherhood; be forward to honour one another;

'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are good for us. 'All things are lawful'? Yes, but not all are edifying. Each of us must consult his neighbour's interests, not his own.

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself;

We who are strong ought to bear the burdens that the weak make for themselves and us. We are not to please ourselves. Each of us must please his neighbour, doing him good by building up his faith.

But see that the exercise of your right does not prove any stumbling-block to the weak.

tell them to be bountiful, rich in good works, open-handed and generous,

never acting for private ends or from vanity, but humbly considering each other the better man,

Keep in harmony with one another; instead of being ambitious, associate with humble folk; never be self-conceited.

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. If anyone imagines he is somebody, he is deceiving himself, for he is nobody;

with perfect modesty and gentleness, showing forbearance to one another patiently, zealous in love

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Lastly, you must all be united, you must have sympathy, brotherly love, compassion, and humility,

You younger men must also submit to the presbyters. Indeed you must all put on the apron of humility to serve one another, for the haughty God opposes, but to the humble he gives grace.

not so with you. He who is greatest among you must be like the youngest, and he who is chief like a servant.

Brothers, you were called to be free; only, do not make your freedom an opening for the flesh, but serve one another in love.

You must serve one another, each with the talent he has received, as efficient stewards of God's varied grace.

be shepherds to your flock of God; take charge of them willingly instead of being pressed to it, not to make a base profit from it but freely,

Sitting down opposite the treasury, he watched the people putting their money into the treasury. A number of the rich were putting in large sums, but a poor widow came up and put in two little coins amounting to a halfpenny. And he called his disciples and said to them, "I tell you truly, this poor widow has put in more than all who have put their money into the treasury;read more.
for they have all put in a contribution out of their surplus, but she has given out of her neediness all she possessed, her whole living."

Going away from there Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a woman of Canaan came out of these parts and wailed, "Have pity on me, Lord, O Son of David! My daughter is cruelly possessed by a daemon." But he made no answer to her. Then his disciples came up and pressed him, saying, "Send her away, she is wailing behind us."read more.
He replied, "It was only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that I was sent." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, do help me." He replied, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." "No, sir," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." At that Jesus replied, "O woman, you have great faith; your prayer is granted as you wish." And from that hour her daughter was cured.

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of expensive perfume which she poured over his head as he lay at table. When the disciples saw this they were angry. "What is the use of this waste?" they said;read more.
"the perfume might have been sold for a good sum, and the poor might have got that." But Jesus was aware of what they said, and he replied, "Why are you annoying the woman? It is a beautiful thing she has done to me. The poor you always have beside you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this perfume on my body she has acted in view of my burial. I tell you truly, wherever this gospel is preached through all the world, men will speak of what she has done in memory of her."

Now when he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, lying at table, a woman came up with an alabaster flask of pure nard perfume, which had cost a great sum; the flask she broke and poured the perfume over his head. This angered some of those present. "What was the use of wasting perfume like this? This perfume might have been sold for over three hundred shillings, and the poor might have got that." So they upbraided her.read more.
But Jesus said, "Let her alone. Why are you annoying her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you always have beside you, and you can be kind to them whenever you want; but you will not always have me. She has done all she could ??she has anticipated the perfuming of my body for burial. I tell you truly, wherever the gospel is preached all over the world, men will speak of what she has done in memory of her."

John answered, "No one can receive anything except as a gift from heaven. You can bear me out, that I said, 'I am not the Christ'; what I said was, 'I have been sent in advance of him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the bridegroom's friend, who stands by and listens to him, is heartily glad at the sound of the bridegroom's voice. Such is my joy, and it is complete.read more.
He must wax, I must wane."

[Relocated to before vs 34] Now there was but one heart and soul among the multitude of the believers; not one of them considered anything his personal property, they shared all they had with one another. the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sale,read more.
laying the money before the feet of the apostles; it was then distributed according to each individual's need. Thus Joseph, who was surnamed Barnabas or (as it may be translated) 'Son of Encouragement' by the apostles, a Levite of Cypriote birth, sold a farm belonging to him and brought the money, which he placed before the feet of the apostles.

Salute Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in Christ Jesus, who have risked their lives for me; I thank them, and not only I but all the Gentile churches as well.

I ask this favour of you, my brothers. The household of Stephanas, you know, was the first to be reaped in Achaia, and they have laid themselves out to serve the saints.

I have no one like him, for genuine interest in your welfare. Everybody is selfish, instead of caring for Jesus Christ.

Give him a welcome in the Lord, then, with your hearts full of joy. Value men like that, for he nearly died in the service of Christ by risking his life to make up for the services you were not here to render me.

Put no stumbling-block in the way of Jews or Greeks or the church of God. Such is my own rule, to satisfy all men in all points, aiming not at my own advantage but at the advantage of the greater number ??at their salvation.

Copy me, as I copy Christ.