Harry Schaumburg

Putting God first is the first of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament.  In the New Testament Jesus reiterates this primary commandment: "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and will all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30).  That is why idolatry is the essence of sin.  If we seek our own will and what we want to do, we seek what satisfies us before we seek God; we first seek out what feeds our well-being---and we can end up seeking spirituality above seeking God and His will.  Thus we end up placing our values above God Himself.  And the result is that God is not God in our hearts!  It is not "my utmost for His highest;" it is "my utmost for myself."

Harry Schaumburg, Undefiled: Redemption from Sexual Sin, Restoration for Broken Relationships, p.101

C.S. Lewis

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less."

Jerry Bridges

"our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered.  We are more concerned about our own 'victory' over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve the heart of God.  We cannot tolerate failure in our struggle with sin chiefly because we are success-oriented, not because we know it is offensive to God...God wants us to walk in obedience - not victory.  Obedience is oriented toward God; victory is oriented toward self. This may seem to be merely splitting hairs over semantics, but there is a subtle, self-centered attitude at the root of many of our difficulties with sin.  Until we face this attitude and deal with it, we will not consistently walk in holiness."