Quotes about Selflessness

Christian spiritual formation rests on this indispensable foundation of death to self and cannot proceed except insofar as that foundation is being firmly laid and sustained.

Giving is more joyous than receiving, not because it is a deprivation, but because in the act of giving lies the expression of my aliveness.

Humility leads to perfect death. Humility means the giving up of self and the taking of the place of perfect nothingness before.

Humble yourself. This is your one duty.

Love is something that has three essential characteristics: 1.) Love arises in people whose lives are already marked by certain qualities of the whole self, chief of which are faith in our all-sufficient God and joyful embracing of death to self. 2.) Love involves an orientation of the whole self toward what is good and right. 3.) Love has amazing, supernatural power for good as it indwells the individual.

Serving really involves giving people what is good for them, not merely pursuing their approval and granting their desires.

It is setting aside our own ideas as supreme and our own will as ultimate, freeing us from the burden of having our own way and of being all-wise in our own eyes.

From Jesus' perspective, there is no greater calling than to be a servant.

We must put all our desires on the cross.

This is the essence of the death-to-self life: that we should no longer live for ourselves, but for him who died for us and rose again.

The other idea is, "I love you, and I will serve you by doing what is good for you, whether you want it or not.

This is where so many distressing stories come from about people in the ministry. Anyone who is attempting to help others in the way of Christ needs to have the life they are describing. They must have peace, purity, patience, and the other fruit produced by following Jesus. They must have a willingness to see others praised, while they are overlooked. They must die to the idea that what they want has any importance at all.