Kingdom Entrepreneur Insights: The Book Of JamesSample

What's Your Ambition?

Selfish ambition is a sneaky little beast; one that is easy to fall prey to, even for a sincere-hearted Kingdom driven entrepreneur.  After all, the world of business looks favorably upon ambition and drive to be the best and achieve more. Shouldn't you want more for your business? Won't greater influence, profits, and prominence mean a greater impact for the Kingdom of God? According to the scriptures, not necessarily.

Being ambitious is not inherently a bad thing, but if it is selfish ambition rather than ambition that is honoring and surrendered to God, it can lead down a path of destruction.

Before I had a heart revelation that I could truly trust God and know that He had my best interests in mind, my ambition as an entrepreneur was not submitted to nor focused on Him. While I was still a generous giver and not treating others poorly, I was always looking to the future rather than appreciating what God was doing in the present. So much of my identity was wrapped up in how much I was achieving in my business or other areas of my life. That is part of the danger of selfish ambition. You can generally be operating with integrity, doing good work, making a difference in the lives of others, and not even realize that you're still missing the mark.

I discovered that once I was able to give up my selfish ambition in exchange for experiencing business in partnership with Him:

• I found my value and security in Him, not how I performed
• I was at peace with allowing God to be my promoter and elevate me and my business as He saw fit
• I learned how to live in the daily sufficiency of God's grace
• I became motivated by loving God and loving others well
• I was no longer interested in good ideas and focused on ideas that were aligned with what God desired for me

It is certainly a process, and we all have to consistently look to Jesus Christ in those moments when we miss it. Every past, present, and future good thing in your business is a result of God, and apart from Him you can do nothing. Allowing the deeds you do in your business to be done in humility will ultimately lead to God's best for you and those you are called to impact in the marketplace.