I do lots of things that don't meet a personal need. Generally they involve helping others when I could be resting in my home. Since I believe my relationship with Christ is a gift, I don't believe that a balance of good works gets me into heaven, so I don't do nice things for people to meet a need. I do it because I love them.
By farther up, I mean you can always have a deeper relationship with G-d. Yours might be satisfying, but a deeper one would be more valuable - if not to you then to the world. If there is a deeper relationship with G-d than I have now, I want to find it. Not because of some need I have, but (as the mountain climber would say) because it's there.
Oh, and the reference to "farther up and further in" is my butchery from "The Last Battle" by C.S. Lewis.
Shalom.