61 Bible Verses about Unselfishness

I cannot do anything by myself. As I get orders, so I judge, and my judgment is a just one, for I am not trying to do my own will but the will of Him who has sent me.

Christ certainly did not please Himself; instead, as the Scripture says, "The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen upon me."

Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for it is now three days they have been staying with me, and they have nothing at all left to eat, and I fear they might give out on the way home."

because He was sure that the Father had put everything into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God, got up from the table, took off His outer clothes, and took a towel and tied it around His waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel which was around His waist.

For by experience you know the unmerited favor shown by our Lord Jesus Christ; that although He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, in order that by His poverty you might become rich.

It is not to be so among you, but whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to hold first position among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man has come, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom price to set many free."

but this is not to be the case among you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to hold the first positions among you must be everybody's slave. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom price to set many free."

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.

This is why the Father loves me, because I am giving my own life to take it back again. No one has taken it from me, but I am giving it as a free gift. I have the right to give it and I have the right to take it back. I have gotten this order from my Father."

For when we were still helpless, Christ at the proper time died for us ungodly men. Now a man will scarcely ever give his life for an upright person, though once in a while a man is brave enough to die for a generous friend. But God proves His love for us by the fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

For I passed on to you, among the primary principles of the good news, what I had received, that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures,

For the love of Christ continuously constrains me, because I am convinced that as One died for all, all have died,

who died for us, so that whether we still live or sleep we may live in fellowship with Him.

He never committed a sin, and deceit was never found on His lips. Although He was abused, He never retorted; although He continued to suffer, He never threatened, but committed His case to Him who judges justly. He bore our sins in His own body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to uprightness. By His wounds you have been healed,

For Christ Himself, once for all, died for our sins, the Innocent for the guilty to bring us to God, being put to death in physical form but made alive in the Spirit,

who gave Himself as a ransom for all, a fact that was testified to at the proper time,

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.

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.

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 the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom price to set many free."

for we know that our former self was crucified with Him, to make our body that is liable to sin inactive, so that we might not a moment longer continue to be slaves to sin.

and He died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

to lay aside, with your former way of living, your old self which is on the way to destruction in accordance with its deceptive impulses;

Stop lying to one another, for you have stripped off the old self with its practices,

For to me living means Christ and dying brings gain. But if to keep on living here means fruit from my labor, I cannot tell which to choose. I am hesitating between two desires, for I long to depart and to be with Christ, for that is far, far better,read more.
And yet for your sakes it is very necessary for me to stay on here.

But for Christ's sake I have counted all that was gain to me as loss. 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 and be actually in union with Him, not having a supposed right standing with God which depends on my doing what the law commands, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the real right standing with God which originates from Him and rests on faith.read more.
Yes, I long to come to know Him; that is, the power of His resurrection and so to share with Him his sufferings as to be continuously transformed by His death, in the hope of attaining, in some measure, the resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead.

Stop looking after your own interests only but practice looking out for the interests of others too. Keep on fostering the same disposition that Christ Jesus had.

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, in order that you too may practice what I have done to you.

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.

We love, because He loved us first. If anyone says, "I love God," and yet habitually hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the command that we get from Him, that whoever loves God loves his brother too.

But the product of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Jesus the Christ have crucified the lower nature with its passions and evil cravings.read more.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk where the Spirit leads. Let us stop being ambitious for honors, so challenging one another, envying one another.

In brotherly love be affectionate to one another, in personal honors put one another to the fore,

Everything is permissible for people, but not everything is good for them. Everything is permissible for people, but not everything builds up their personality. No one should always be looking after his own welfare, but also that of his neighbor.

For none of us can live alone by himself, and none of us can die alone by himself;

It is the duty of us who are strong to bear with the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not merely to please ourselves. Each one of us must practice pleasing his neighbor, to help in his immediate upbuilding for his eternal good.

But you must see to it that this right of yours does not become a stumbling block to overscrupulous people.

forbearing one another and freely forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; just as the Lord has freely forgiven you, so must you also do.

charge them to continue doing good and being rich in good deeds, open-handed and generous hearted,

Stop acting from motives of selfish strife or petty ambition, but in humility practice treating one another as your superiors.

Keep on thinking in harmony with one another. Stop being high-minded but keep on associating with lowly people. Stop being conceited.

Practice bearing one another's burdens, and in this way carry out the law of Christ. For if anybody thinks he is somebody when really he is nobody, he deceives himself.

with perfect humility and gentleness, with patience, lovingly bearing with one another,

keep on living in subordination to one another out of reverence to Christ.

Finally, you must all live in harmony, be sympathetic, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, humble,

You younger men, on your part, must be submissive to the elders. And you must all put on the servant's apron of humility to one another, because God opposes the haughty but bestows His unmerited favor on the humble.

But you are not to do so. On the contrary, the greatest among you must be like the youngest and the leader as the servant.

For you, brothers, were called to freedom; only you must not let your freedom be an excuse for the gratification of your lower nature, but in love be slaves to one another.

As all of you have received your spiritual talents, you must keep on using them in serving one another, as good trustees of God's many-sided favor.

be shepherds of the flock of God that is among you, not as though you had to but of your own free will, not from the motive of personal profit but freely,

Then He sat down in front of the collection-box and was watching the people as they dropped their money into it. And many rich people were dropping in large sums. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two little copper coins, which make scarcely a cent. And He called His disciples to Him and said, "I solemnly say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all these others who have been putting money into the collection-box.read more.
For all of them put in out of their surplus, but she in her want put in all she had, yes, all she had to live on."

Then Jesus left there and slipped away to the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman of that district came out and pleaded, saying, "Do pity me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is suffering horrors from a demon." But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came up and kept begging Him, "Send her away, for she keeps on screaming after us."read more.
But He answered, "I have been sent only to the lost sheep of Israel's house." But she came and bowed to Him, and kept praying, "Lord, help me!" He answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the house dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, and yet the house dogs usually eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, wonderful is your faith! You must have what you want." And her daughter was cured at that very moment.

When Jesus came back to Bethany, to the home of Simon the leper, a woman with an alabaster bottle of very costly perfume came up to Him while He was at table and poured it upon His head. When the disciples saw it, they were very indignant, and said, "Why such waste?read more.
Surely it could have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor." But Jesus, because He understood them, said to them, "Why do you embarrass the woman? She has done a good deed to me, for you always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. For in putting this perfume on my body she has done it to prepare me for my burial. I solemnly say to you, all over the world wherever this good news is proclaimed, the good deed that she has done will be told, in memory of her."

While He was in Bethany, He was a guest in the home of Simon the leper, and as He was sitting at table, a woman came in with an alabaster bottle of pure nard perfume, very costly; she broke the bottle and poured the perfume on His head. But some of the guests were indignantly saying to themselves, "Why was such a waste of the perfume made? It might have been sold for more than sixty dollars, and the money have been given to the poor." So they kept on grumbling at her.read more.
But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you embarrass her? She has done a good deed to me. For you always have the poor among you, and whenever you please you can do them good, but you will not always have me. She has done all she could; she has beforehand perfumed my body for my burial. I solemnly say to you, all over the world wherever this good news is proclaimed, the deed that she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

John answered, "A man cannot get anything, unless it is given to him from heaven. You can bear testimony to me yourselves that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent as His announcer.' It is the bridegroom who has the bride, but the bridegroom's friend, who stands outside and listens to him, is very happy to hear the bridegroom's voice. So this happiness of mine is running over.read more.
He must grow greater and greater, but I less and less."

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.

Remember me to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in the work of Christ Jesus, who once risked their very necks for my life. I am so thankful to them; not only I but also all the churches among the heathen thank them.

Now I beg you, brothers -- you know that the family of Stephanas were the first converts in Greece, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of God's people --

For I have no one else with a heart like his who would take such genuine interest in you, for most people are looking out for their own interests, not for the interests of Jesus Christ.

So give him a hearty Christian welcome and hold in honor men like him, because he came near dying for the sake of the Lord's work and risked his life to make up for your lack of opportunity to minister to me.

Stop being stumbling blocks to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God, just as I myself am in the habit of pleasing everybody in everything, not aiming at my own welfare but at that of as many people as possible, in order that they may be saved.

You must follow my example, just as I myself am following Christ's.