54 Bible Verses about Self Denial

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul,

When you find honey, eat only what is sufficient for you, lest you become stuffed with it and vomit it up.

But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin's fleeting pleasure.

But they answered, "We do not drink wine because our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us not to. He told us, 'You and your children must never drink wine.

I ate no choice food; no meat or wine came to my lips, nor did I anoint myself with oil until the end of those three weeks.

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'

Then Jesus called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

Then he said to them all, "If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Then Paul replied, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."

But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ.

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell.

may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. "Follow me," he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

Jesus went out again by the sea. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them. As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. "Follow me," he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. "Follow me," he said to him. And he got up and followed him, leaving everything behind.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, to the unquenchable fire.

Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Then Peter said to him, "Look, we have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?"

Peter began to speak to him, "Look, we have left everything to follow you!"

And Peter said, "Look, we have left everything we own to follow you!"

And whoever has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive in this age a hundred times as much -- homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life.

So when they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.

"But be on your guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day close down upon you suddenly like a trap.

But I do not consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God's grace.

Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

(for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice -- alive, holy, and pleasing to God -- which is your reasonable service.

Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires.

"All things are lawful for me" -- but not everything is beneficial. "All things are lawful for me" -- but I will not be controlled by anything.

Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run uncertainly or box like one who hits only air. Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified.

And they did this not just as we had hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

So if someone cleanses himself of such behavior, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart, useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.

in that he spends the rest of his time on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires.

Boaz replied to her, "I have been given a full report of all that you have done for your mother-in-law following the death of your husband -- how you left your father and your mother, as well as your homeland, and came to live among people you did not know previously.

Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.

But now, if you will forgive their sin, but if not, wipe me out from your book that you have written."

It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves.

For this reason, if food causes my brother or sister to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause one of them to sin.

So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.

No one in military service gets entangled in matters of everyday life; otherwise he will not please the one who recruited him.

Do not seek your own good, but the good of the other person.

He must become more important while I become less important."