Ambition

Ambition

When is ambition harmful?

God’s Response

Let’s build a great city with a tower that reaches to the skies—a monument to our greatness! Genesis 11:4

How terrible it will be for you who get rich by unjust means! . . . How terrible it will be for you who build cities with money gained by murder and corruption! Habakkuk 2:9, 12

You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. James 4:2

There’s a difference between being a part of God’s great work and wanting personal greatness through God’s work. If you’re not sure where you fall, examine your motives. If the greatest benefactor of your achievements is yourself, then perhaps your ambition is out of control. Seek to honor God and others, not yourself.

God’s Challenge

Jesus said to the disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24