Seriously, don't read this unless you WANT some conviction.

"There is a common attitude among modern wives that says we must stand up for ourselves --- to make sure our husbands never take us for granted, to make sure we are receiving just as much as we are giving. We fear that the moment we choose to give up the control position in our marriage, we have signed away our life and our identity. We think that when we humble ourselves to serve our husbands, we will lose our respect and dignity as a woman and become nothing but a doormat. But, as a great Christian woman once said, 'Christ became even lower than a doormat.' Christ did not scrape and grasp for His rights, His power, His control. He willingly sacrificed them in order to meet our greatest need. There is no greater love than the One who stooped so low and sacrificed so much for the sake of His Beloved. Christ was not worried about what He would receive from us. He simply gave --- He willingly poured out His breath and blood because He loved us (Philippians 2:6)."



"This [see above for what 'this' means] is how we are called to love our husbands. Not holding back --- pouring ourselves out for our man with abandon. Not scraping for our own rights, not grasping for our own agenda, but humbling ourselves daily, seeking our spouse's good above our own."



"Many modern messages for women urge us to look out for ourselves. They say that we shouldn't become so busy meeting other people's needs that we forget to meet our own. But what does Christ say? 'Take no thought for your life' (Matthew 6:25 KJV)....Look at Christ's example when He was here on earth. He was so busy pouring out for others that He scarcely had time to sleep or eat. He was not self-focused or self-protective....For some reason, I just can't imagine Christ taking time away from His ministry to 'pamper Himself.' The only personal area of His life that Jesus diligently protected was private times of prayer."



"Well, sorry to be so blunt, but most 'normal, everyday' Christians in the Western world are living pleasure-seeking, self-absorbed lives. Just think about it. Are we, as the majority of American Christians, pouring ourselves out for the lost and the least, or are we lying on our couches, eating pizza, and watching reality TV? Millions of hurting, destitute, hopeless people are crying out for someone to help them. But sadly, we are frighteningly similar to the wealthy Christians during the Holocaust who sat comfortably in church singing hymns at the tops of their lungs to drown out the anguished cries of the thousands of Jews who passed by in cattle cars on their way to death camps."



"Here's the publisher's description of that popular women's book Captivating. 'The message of Captivating is this: Your heart matters more than anything else in all creation.' And what is meant by the term 'your heart'? According to the author of the book, 'The heart is who you are. The real self. Me. My heart is me. The real me. Your heart is you.' So in other words, you matter more than anything else in all creation.
Really?
Do you matter more than the 143 million orphans around the world, starving, scared, abandoned, and alone? Do you matter more than the millions of Latin American street children who hide in alleys and old buildings to escape the 'death squads' of corrupt policemen who hunt them down for sport? Do you matter more than the millions of elementary school-aged girls kept as slave prostitutes in South America? Do you matter more than millions of starving kids who live in dumps and eat buzzard soup or dead dogs to survive?...While American Christians are preoccupied with healing their own inner wounds, being set free to be their true selves, and fighting to be noticed and appreciated for their own unique qualities, staggering numbers of people around the world are living in such misery, squalor, and pain that we cannot even imagine."



"Most of us would be horrified at the thought of ignoring a cattle car of screaming Jews as they were hauled away to their deaths. But we do it every single day when we turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the millions of destitute and dying who urgently need our help. We do it when we spend all our living on self-indulgent pleasures instead of rescuing abandoned children. We do it when we go on luxury cruises instead of outreaches to the poor. We do it when we have movie marathons instead of prayer vigils for the oppressed. We do it every time we make our own comforts and happiness the highest priority."



"Our hearts are NOT the most important things in the world. The Down syndrome boy in Mexico City who sleeps on the street and begs for food is the most important thing in the world. The nine-year-old girl whose virginity is auctioned off to a roomful of [men] is the most important thing in the world....Scripture says that God is no respecter of persons....All of us are valuable and equal in His sight. However, there are some people who...are extra close to His heart. They are the poor, the lame, the weak, and the outcast."



"These people have a claim on your life. They have a claim on my life. They are a priority to Christ and therefore must be a priority to us. If we are so preoccupied with self that we will not show the practical, life-changing, hope-giving love of Christ to them, our faith is dead."



"God might not call every one of us to...Hong Kong...or...India....It is true that He has unique roles for each of us to play...and that each of us are called to different things. But not one of us is 'called' to live the self-indulgent, pleasure-seeking, comfort-craving life of the typical American Christian. If you think that God has called you to merely live in a nice house with a well-paying job and be part of a Bible study group, then you aren't very familiar with what His Word says....those things are not the essence of the Christian life."



"There is a sacred claim upon each of our lives that is not to be ignored. Christ makes us whole so that we can be poured out for Him. Not once a year. Not even two or three times a week. He has called us to be a living sacrifice --- to live a lifestyle of serving and sacrifice for His kingdom."



"...you cannot assume that someone else is going to take care of it. You need to act as if you are the only one who knows of the need, and that God has specially chosen you to meet it. (And if it is impossible for you to meet the need practically, it is never impossible for you to meet the need spiritually by laboring...in fervent prayer.)"

all from Set-Apart Femininity by Leslie Ludy