Self-denial

I read this the other day in Walter Brueggemann's book, A Way other than our Own:

To deny self means that I cannot be a self-starter, cannot be self-sufficient, cannot be self-made or self-securing, and that to try to do so will end in isolation and fear and greed and brutality and finally in violence.

What do you think of that quote? I posted it on Facebook and had a couple of comments that surprised me.  It could be that my thoughts were different from theirs because I had the benefit of context.

I think it means that when we try to center our lives on ourselves, then we place priority on (and get our identity from) what we earn, what we have, what others see us as.  None of those are very good at defining who we are or why we are here.  Concentrating on ourselves, therefore, can lead to fear and isolation, greed and brutality, and eventually violence.

Alternatively, when we center our lives on God, we do get a sense of who we are, who we are meant to be, and what our purpose is. We know we are loved, and our self-worth can stem from that instead of what we own or what power we have.

I never thought of that as self-denial, but I can see it.