Christianity isn't about being self-sacrificing - it's about being self-forgetting. Forget yourself once in a while, and open your eyes. Focus on this big, beautiful world God has made. If you walk to school, learn to identify every plant that you pass on the way. At night, learn to identify every constellation in the sky. Get to know birds by their feathers , flight patterns and songs.
It's a big world - and it reflects the character of God.
People who become self-centered lose contact with the outside world. They spend all their time and energy worrying about bad grades, or unfriendly friends, or mean parents. Forget about those things once in a while, and allow yourself to become involved in the lives of people who have equally bad situations. Open up and let other people matter to you.
When we take a bigger view of things, God will give us more grace and love for others. We'll find ourselves responding to the needs and to the goodness; we'll find ourselves angered by injustice to others.
And we'll have a bigger appreciation of even small things, like the smell of a wet dog on a mucky day. Let go of yourself - and God will show you a whole new world.
