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Self-Denial: General Scriptures Concerning

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Genesis 22:1–12 Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. / “Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” / So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated.
2 Samuel 24:24 “No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
Psalm 132:3–5 “I will not enter my house or get into my bed, / I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, / until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.
Proverbs 23:2 and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.
Daniel 10:3 I ate no rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with oil until the three weeks were completed.
Matthew 5:29, 30 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. / And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to depart into hell.
Matthew 8:19–22 And one of the scribes came to Him and said, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” / Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” / Another of His disciples requested, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Matthew 10:37–39 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; / and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. / Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 13:44–46 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field. / Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. / When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it.
Matthew 16:24, 25 Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. / For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 18:8, 9 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. / And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
Matthew 19:12, 21 For there are eunuchs who were born that way; others were made that way by men; and still others live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” / Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
Mark 2:14 As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.
Mark 8:34, 35 Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. / For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.
Mark 9:43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.
Mark 10:29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel
Mark 12:43, 44 Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more than all the others into the treasury. / For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
Luke 5:11, 27 And when they had brought their boats ashore, they left everything and followed Him. / After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him,
Luke 9:23, 24, 57–60 Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. / For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. / As they were walking along the road, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow You wherever You go.”
Luke 14:26–33 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. / And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple. / Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?
Luke 18:27–30 But Jesus said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” / “Look,” said Peter, “we have left all we had to follow You.” / “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God
Luke 21:2–4 and He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. / “Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. / For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
John 12:25 Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Acts 20:22–24 And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. / I only know that in town after town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions await me. / But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
Acts 21:13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
Romans 8:12, 13, 35, 36 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to 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. / Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
Romans 13:14 Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
Romans 14:1–22 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions. / For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables. / The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.
Romans 15:1–5 We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves. / Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. / For even Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written: “The insults of those who insult You have fallen on Me.”
1 Corinthians 6:12 “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.
1 Corinthians 8:10–13 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols? / So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. / By sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
1 Corinthians 9:12, 15, 18, 19, 23, 25–27 If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. / But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast. / What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it.
1 Corinthians 10:23, 24 “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying. / No one should seek his own good, but the good of others.
2 Corinthians 6:3 We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no one can discredit our ministry.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Galatians 5:16, 17, 24 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. / For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. / Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 6:14 But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Philippians 2:4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Philippians 3:7–9 But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. / More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ / and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.
Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
2 Timothy 2:4 A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs, in order to please the one who enlisted him.
Titus 2:12 It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
Hebrews 13:13 Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore.
1 Peter 2:11–16 Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul. / Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us. / Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the supreme authority,
1 Peter 4:1, 2 Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin. / Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.
3 John 1:7 For they went out on behalf of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.
Revelation 12:11 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.