God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
When you look at the Cross, what do you see? You see God’s awesome faithfulness. Nothing – not even the instinct to spare His own Son – will turn Him back from keeping His word.
Self-denial is a practice which lies very near to the heart of true religion. Without its exercise there can be no conversion to Christ. Qualities most basic to a Christian frame of heart – notably humility and meekness – would dissolve without its active expression.