Ambition: Is it good or bad?

From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ambition’ as “an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power; the desire to achieve a particular end.”

Ambition is something that can be either good or bad, depending on how it is channeled.

A person can be ambitious in seeking ways to help others and advance their cause.

Mother Theresa was an incredibly ambitious woman during her years serving the needy people of India with her kindness and compassion.

That ambition rubbed off on others and multiplied her vision so that many others followed in her footsteps and have reached countless many more than the diminutive nun from Albania could ever have done alone.

Adolf Hitler, on the other hand, shows the opposite side of this moral coin.

His ambition caused the suffering and death of literally millions of innocent lives, and it, too, rubbed off on others.

Sadly, the fruit of his ambitious regimes is still around today in white supremacist groups and neo-Nazi organizations.

Proverbs 25:27 says, “It’s not good to eat too much honey, and it’s not good to seek honours for yourself.”

Ambition, when harnessed and used for good, has the sweetness of honey about it.

But when we get carried away with our ardent desires and lofty goals a good thing becomes a bad thing.

The sweetness of honey which enhances the flavour of life can in its excess be something we want to vomit out of our mouths.

This week might be a good time to do a little gut check about the motives for the goals you are pursuing.

Ask yourself, “Would I be as committed to my achievements if nobody acknowledged them, or if someone else got more attention or credit than me?”

Your reaction to this question will more than likely determine if your ambition is something that is good, or something that needs to go.

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