A Long Look into the Mirror

Staying healthy and functioning in a turbulent world demands honesty with yourself and those with whom you share relationships. Honesty is obtained by looking long and hard in the mirror and asking yourself, “How far am I willing to go to satisfy my ambitions?”

A good friend ignored all the warning signs that told him to slow down and consider the price he was paying for his definition of success. He justified the absence of his inner peace by allowing ambition to sweep aside God’s word, “Do unto others as you would want them to do to you.” Did you get that?

At the peak of this friend's success and despair, God sent a messenger of hope, reminding him he could change and make amends for the wrongs he had committed. Ambition can be redirected for good rather than for purely selfish gain. Jesus’ ambition was to do his Father’s will regardless of the price, even death on the cross. It was for your benefit and your salvation that His ambition was realized. Give thanks to God for his grace and mercy.  

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Don’t do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. And look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own. The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had.

~Philippians 2:3-5 Good News Bible

Now we see by a mirror and are puzzled, but then we’ll see face to face. Now I learn only a part of anything, but then I’ll know as He has known me.

~1 Corinthians 13:12 Beck – New Testament in the Language of Today

Let Personal Values Rein in Personal Ambition

We often experience situations that challenge our value system and which in turn threaten our inner peace. Being faced with options to participate in unethical practices leaves some individuals momentarily tempted. Personal ambition plays a major role in how internal conflict is managed.

 

You may choose to permit ambition to override your personal values. Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle identified ambition as temptation to sin because of the drive to be successful. Alexander Pope remarked that “Ambition can save or destroy.” Whether ambition works for good or evil is determined by personal choice.

Striving to achieve all that’s possible is regulated by personal values.  If unbridled ambition collides with values guarding your inner peace and conscience, the consequences can be disturbing. Let the Apostle Paul’s testimony be your objective: “I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.” This is possible when the Holy Spirit guides your choices. 

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I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

Do not be like the horse or the mule,

Which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.

~Psalm 32:8-9 New International Version