It took losing what mattered to him the most for Kirk to realise how skewed his priorities were, and the worst part was that it had to happen twice for the lesson to really stick: the first when being taken from the Enterprise taught him that his place was among the stars, and the second when his feud with Khan lead to Spock's death.
Whatever was asked of him to bring Spock back, he would have gladly given, if he had to betray the Federation, lead his friends to death, give up not only his own life but his honor and his very soul if he knew who would take it, so perhaps he was lucky that the devil offered him such a bargain, just his career, his only son, and the ship that he once considered himself married to, that he once believed was his one true love, a steep price, but he would have given much more.
When he held Spock again, impossibly alive just as Kirk was starting to accept that he had died, all of the sacrifices, even those he never intended to make, were worth it, and this was a trade he would never regret.
Star Trek The Search for Spock, Kirk/Spock, Bargain with the devil
Whatever was asked of him to bring Spock back, he would have gladly given, if he had to betray the Federation, lead his friends to death, give up not only his own life but his honor and his very soul if he knew who would take it, so perhaps he was lucky that the devil offered him such a bargain, just his career, his only son, and the ship that he once considered himself married to, that he once believed was his one true love, a steep price, but he would have given much more.
When he held Spock again, impossibly alive just as Kirk was starting to accept that he had died, all of the sacrifices, even those he never intended to make, were worth it, and this was a trade he would never regret.