John Calvin on Self-Denial - Part III

The denial of ourselves is partly in reference to men and is partly--indeed, chiefly--in reference to God. Scripture orders us to live with men in such a way as to prefer their honor to our own and to devote ourselves in good faith to promoting their welfare (Rom.12:10).

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves (Phil 2:2)

Thus it gives us commands that our souls are incapable of fulfilling unless our souls are emptied of their natural inclination. Each of us thinks we have just cause for elevating ourselves and despising all others in comparison to ourselves--our self-love ruins us with such blindness. If, in fact, God as gifted us with something that is good in itself, we immediately make it the basis for praising ourselves to such a degree that we not only swell up but almost burst with pride.

We carefully conceal our abundant vices from others--and we pretend they're small and insignificant. In fact, we so delude ourselves that we sometimes embrace our vices as virtues. When others possess gifts that we would admire in ourselves--or even better gifts--we spitefully ridicule and degrade their gifts, refusing to rightly acknowledge them as gifts. Similarly, when others possess vices, we're not content merely to point them out and harshly and sternly reproach them, but we wickedly exaggerate them. Thus our arrogance grows as we seek to exalt ourselves above others, as if we were different from them. Truly, there's no one who does not flippantly and boldly disregard and despise others as inferiors. Yes, the poor outwardly defer to the rich, common people to nobles, servants to masters, the unlearned to the educated. But there's not one who does not nourish a high opinion of himself within.