54 Bible Verses about Self Denial

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.

Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you.

If you find honey, eat only what you need;
otherwise, you’ll get sick from it and vomit.

Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself.

and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the short-lived pleasure of sin.

But they replied, “We do not drink wine, for Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, commanded: ‘You and your sons must never drink wine.

I didn’t eat any rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I didn’t put any oil on my body until the three weeks were over.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord
and will never drink wine or beer.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit
while still in his mother’s womb.

For John the Baptist did not come eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.

Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, 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 bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Your kingdom come.
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 office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So he got up and followed Him.

Then Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to Him, and He taught them. Then, moving on, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So he got up and followed Him.

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So, leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow Him.

And if your hand causes your downfall, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell—the unquenchable fire,

“If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

Then Peter responded to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You. So what will there be for us?”

Peter began to tell Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You.”

Then Peter said, “Look, we have left what we had and followed You.”

And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life.

“I assure you,” Jesus said, “there is no one who has left house, brothers or sisters, mother or father, children, or fields because of Me and the gospel, who will not receive 100 times more, now at this time—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and eternal life in the age to come.

Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed Him.

In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to all his possessions cannot be My disciple.

“Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly

But I count my life of no value to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel 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 are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires.

“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be brought under the control of anything.

Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. However, they do it to receive a crown that will fade away, but we a crown that will never fade away. Therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves especially to the Lord, then to us by God’s will.

and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God.

So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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

in order to live the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.

Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know.

Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Now if You would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book You have written.”

It is a noble thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother stumble.

Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.

Therefore, if food causes my brother to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother to fall.

Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the recruiter.

No one should seek his own good, but the good of the other person.

He must increase, but I must decrease.”