Your Ambition: Friend or Foe?

When you hear the word ambition, or hear that someone has ambition, what comes to mind?

Ambition is a word with many meanings. According to the Indonesian dictionary, ambition means having a great desire to obtain, do, or become something. But on the other hand, ambition can also mean ‘being earnest, having a strong desire,’ even to the point of sacrificing other things to achieve its goal.

Regardless of its effects, everyone certainly has ambitions they want to achieve in life. The motives can vary, from attaining a higher position to personal dreams, such as becoming a singer. Of course, this is natural and not wrong. Especially in a world that keeps developing, everyone keeps racing against time to achieve success. The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius once said, “A person is measured by his ambition.”

However, without realizing it, excessive ambition can make someone ‘blind. So focused is a person on achieving their goal, they can forget everything else except that goal. Dreams or goals can then turn into obsessions that may end up destroying their life. We do not want that to happen, do we? 

Before that happens, it would be good for us to recognize the signs of excessive, or unhealthy, unhealthy ambition. The goal is that this ambition will not become toxic for us and our relationship with God.

What are the signs that our ambition is becoming unhealthy? We will learn from Adonijah, the son of King David, about the dangers of unhealthy ambition.

1. Justifying Any Means

Working hard to achieve a goal is natural. It proves that we are serious about reaching what we dream of. 

However, in our journey to make that goal a reality, what if our motivation becomes unhealthy? What if our heart becomes wrong, so that we justify any means?

Let us look at Adonijah's story. According to 2 Samuel 3:2-5, Adonijah was a son of David. He had the opportunity to become king, because his older brothers, namely Absalom, Amnon, and Chileab, had died or were no longer in the picture. But what did he do?

It is written in 1 Kings 1:5-6, “Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king.’ He prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. His father had never rebuked him at any time by saying, ‘Why have you done so?’ He was also very handsome, and he was born next after Absalom.”

We can see that David never disciplined Adonijah. Most likely he became a selfish, egotistical person. king, by whatever means, regardless of whether it was good or bad.

Adonijah also invited Joab, the commander of the army, Abiathar, the high priest, along with many officials and leaders so that he would be recognized as king. However, what Adonijah did was actually illegitimate. Why? Because in verse 13, David had already appointed Solomon as his successor.

Reflecting on Adonijah's story, we need to ask: in pursuing our ambition, do we become the kind of person who does anything, even what is not in accordance with the word of God?

One day, I was once offered a very good job. However, in order to be accepted, I had to pay a sum of money. I thought this was not a problem, because my future would be better. My future would be secure and my life would be stable.

Without thinking twice, without asking for advice, I was willing to give that money. But in the end I was rebuked. And I realized this was not right in God's eyes. Long story short, I did not end up working at that institution. From this I learned that justifying any means to fulfill ambition or goals is not right in God's eyes. 

What about our lives? What do we do to pursue our ambition? Do we work from morning until night, sacrificing our quiet time with God? Sacrificing our health ? Sacrificing time with family? Do we do everything, even what is wrong, just to achieve what we want? 

Let us pursue ambition in a healthy way. Work smart and work hard within reasonable limits. Most importantly, let us do it with the fear of the Lord with all our heart. Surely, God will bless the work of our hands. 

2. Using Wisdom or Our Own Way

Next, what did Adonijah do? “So he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed Adonijah and helped him (1 Kings 1:7).” He invited Joab, as the army commander, and Abiathar, the high priest, to smooth his path.

I believe Adonijah did not carefully consider what he was about to do. He did not ask for advice from the right people. In fact, he also did not inform his father, David, or ask for his blessing when he planned to become king (1 Kings 1:18). 

Neither did he consider his plan before God. In the end God thwarted Adonijah's ambition, because from the beginning it was Solomon who had been chosen to become king in place of David (1 Kings 1:17, 29, 30). 

It was Solomon who was recognized as king (1 Kings 1: 38-40). In the end, because Solomon saw Adonijah as a threat, he was eventually put to death (1 Kings 2:25).

Whether we realize it or not, we too can act like Adonijah. We want something. Then we act in our own way. We do not ask for advice. Or we deliberately seek advice from people who will surely support us. Actually, we are not asking for advice, but asking to be supported orapproved, whatever we do. 

Excessive ambition makes us unable to see whether we are doing right or wrong. Besides that, excessive ambition can also make us plan without mature counsel. We then become distant from God. Meanwhile, the Bible itself says, “Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight (Prov. 3:6).”

Let us be humble, ask for advice from the right people, and ask for wisdom from God, so that He Himself may “make straight” our path.

Ambition: Friend or Foe?

Ambition can be a friend or an enemy. It can be fuel that ignites our spirit to move forward. But excessive or unhealthy ambition, which is not in accordance with God's will, can actually destroy us. 

It is easy enough to tell the difference. Ask yourself what the goal is, why, and for whom we are pursuing that ambition. If the goal is merely to satisfy personal interests, it may be selfish ambition. If so, it is no wonder that we can justify any means and use our own wisdom to get it. 

Life still needs ambition. Without it, perhaps we would become people who are barely living at all. However, make sure our ambition is aligned with God's ambition. For example, the ambition to lead people to know God, to maximize our talents for God, to love others, is a very good thing. And just as importantly, the way we pursue it must also be right, namely in accordance with God's will. It must not harm ourselves or others. 

That way, our ambition can become a friend, not an enemy! Keep going! -  Related Articles:

• What Is Your Life's Purpose?
• Becoming a Christian Teenager with Right and Strong Life Motivation
• Wisdom: How Can We Obtain It?
• Are Your Life Priorities in the Right Order?
• Consistency: An Essential Element of Success

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