48 Bible Verses about Self Denial

Then Jesus said to his disciples: "If any man wishes to walk in my steps, let him renounce self, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Dear friends, I urge you, as pilgrims and strangers upon earth, to refrain from indulging the cravings of your earthly nature, for they make war upon the soul.

He preferred sharing the hardships of God's People to enjoying the short-lived pleasures of sin.

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord; he shall not drink any wine or strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit from the very hour of his birth,

For now that John the Baptist has come, not eating bread or drinking wine, you are saying 'He has a demon in him';

Calling the people and his disciples to him, Jesus said: "If any man wishes to walk in my steps, let him renounce self, take up his cross, and follow me.

And to all present he said: "If any man wishes to walk in my steps, let him renounce self, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

It was then that Paul made the reply: "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart like this? For my part, I am ready not only to be bound, but even to suffer death at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus."

But all the things which I once held to be gains I have now, for the Christ's sake, come to count as loss.

If your right eye is a snare to you, take it out and throw it away. It would be best for you to lose one part of your body, and not to have the whole of it thrown into the Pit.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done--on earth, as in Heaven.

As Jesus went along, he saw a man, called Matthew, sitting in the tax-office, and said to him: "Follow me." Matthew got up and followed him.

Jesus went out again to the Sea; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in the tax-office, and said to him: "Follow me." Levi got up and followed him.

After this, Jesus went out; and he noticed a tax-gatherer, named Levi, sitting in the tax-office, and said to him: "Follow me." Levi left everything and got up and followed him.

If your hand proves a snare to you, cut it off. It would be better for you to enter the Life maimed, than to have both your hands and go into the Pit, into the inextinguishable fire.

"If you wish to be perfect," answered Jesus, "go and sell your property, and give to the poor, and you shall have wealth in Heaven; then come and follow me."

"But we--we left everything, and followed you; what, then, shall we have?"

"But we," began Peter, "we left everything and have followed you."

"But we," said Peter, "we left what belonged to us and followed you."

Every one who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or land, on account of my Name, will receive many times as much, and will 'gain Immortal Life.'

"I tell you," said Jesus, "there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or land, on my account and on account of the Good News, Who will not receive a hundred times as much, even now in the present--houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and land--though not without persecutions, and, in the age that is coming, Immortal Life.

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

And so with every one of you who does not bid farewell to all he has--he cannot be a disciple of mine.

Be on your guard lest your minds should ever be dulled by debauches or drunkenness or the anxieties of life, and lest 'That Day' should come suddenly upon you, like a snare.

But I count my life of no value to myself, if only I may complete the course marked out for me, and the task that was allotted me by the Lord Jesus--which was to declare the Good News of the Love of God.

Heaven forbid! We became dead to sin, and how can we go on living in it?

If you live in obedience to your earthly nature, you will inevitably die; but if, by the power of the Spirit, you put an end to the evil habits of the body, you will live.

I entreat you, then, Brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, for this is your rational worship.

No! Arm yourselves with the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, and spend no thought on your earthly nature, to satisfy its cravings.

Everything is allowable for me! Yes, but everything is not profitable. Everything is allowable for me! Yes, but for my part, I will not let myself be enslaved by anything.

Every athlete exercises self-restraint in everything; they, indeed, for a crown that fades, we for one that is unfading. I, therefore, run with no uncertain aim. I box-not like a man hitting the air. No, I bruise my body and make it my slave, lest I, who have called others to the contest, should myself be rejected.

And that, not only in the way we had expected; but first they gave themselves to the Lord, and to us also, in accordance with God's will.

I have been crucified with Christ. So it is no longer I that live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and, as for my present earthly life, I am living it by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

This is what I have to say--Let your steps be guided by the Spirit, and then you will never gratify the cravings of your earthly nature.

For you died, and your Life now lies hidden, with the Christ, in God.

If, then, a man has escaped from the pollution of such errors as I have mentioned, he will be like a thing kept for better use, set apart, serviceable to its owner, ready for any good purpose.

leading us to renounce irreligious ways and worldly ambitions, and to live discreet, upright, and religious lives here in this present world, while we are awaiting our Blessed Hope--the Appearing in glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.

Therefore submit to God; but resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.

and so will live the rest of his earthly life guided, not by human passions, but by the will of God.

And one and all should consider, not only their own interests, but also the interests of others.

The right course is to abstain from meat or wine or, indeed, anything that is a stumbling-block to your Brother.

We, the strong, ought to take on our own shoulders the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not merely to please ourselves.

Therefore, if what I eat makes my Brother fall, rather than make my Brother fall, I will never eat meat again.

Therefore destroy all that is earthly in you--immorality, uncleanness, passions, evil desires, and that greed which is idolatry.

A soldier on active service, to please his superior officer, always avoids entangling himself in the affairs of ordinary life.

A man must not study his own interests, but the interests of others.

He must become greater, and I less."