Question:
Is ambition the same as selfishness?
Go For Broke
2007-08-12 01:56:29 UTC
Ambition motivates us to strive and maximize as much as we can gain without ever feeling enough. Isn't this the same as selfishness? Can ambition actually be a sin?
Eleven answers:
neverdugdisco
2007-08-12 01:59:28 UTC
Nope.. ambition is the drive to succeed and could be because you want to provide for your friends and/or families benefit..



Selfishness is only caring about yourself.. not even in the same ballpark.
emelda
2016-05-20 08:45:47 UTC
No, ambition is not the same as sin. Ambition is what makes a person strive to be better than he is, to reach his potentials and try his own limits on the possibilities available to him. It does become a sin when taken to extreme, where selfishness can be similar to it.
CaTcHmEiFuCaN
2007-08-12 02:11:01 UTC
This is a great question. Anything can become sin when our motives and attitudes are wrong. You can't say ambition is always sin. To some maybe it is sin because their ambition is more important to them than God while others are ambitious for the things of God.
cas1025
2007-08-12 04:28:08 UTC
no, Ambition by itself is the drive that God gave you, to move you, as He wants us to be fruitful. It is the very spirit of your character.



The Bible says to have to godly "zeal", to be ambitious to do good, and willing to do our best in all we do, How can you do that without any ambition, if ambition itself were sin? Scripture says, that "anything apart from faith, is sin".



Your ambition/drive is what motivates and inspires, not only yourself, but other people. The lack of ambition hinders.



Ambition is only a sin, if it is "selfish-ambition", when the ambition/drive itself, lack's love and has wrong motives/ill desires.



Jesus said, "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, neither can a bad tree produce good fruit".



A tree bears seed after it's kind. There is a story in the Old Testament of a farmer who went hungry because of his lack of ambition, he let his field become overgrown and be overtaken by weeds and went hungry, while his neighbors had plenty food stored up in their barns for winter.



If it is a Christ-centered ambition, it comes from love in your heart, and it produces in you the desire to bless others and bring Glory to God. As opposed to trying to gratify the desires of the flesh, which are never satisfied no matter how much we have,it will always come up empty because it is rooted in self-centered ambitions.



It's the reason underneath the ambition makes it one way or the other. If it is righteous, we'll be motivated by our love for God & others.



Righteous ambition moves you to walk in the path of righteousness, If we are led by the Spirit we will not fufill selfish desires/ambitions.



Like Jesus said, "I came not to BE served but, to serve". Jesus' main ambition while He walked upon this earth was doing God's Will.



I think that our flesh by it's own sinful nature, is selfish, without God and that we are all prone to selfishness without Christ.
salientsamurai
2007-08-12 02:05:15 UTC
According to many eastern philosophies (including Taoism) ambition is to be avoided (no parralell for the word sin, but it is similar) Ambition is the root of pride and greed. Ambition also causes unrest within the soul, and imbalance within your life. To free oneself of ambition, to live simply in harmony with the world around you is the ultimate goal of most of these teachings.
2007-08-12 01:58:26 UTC
You can still have ambition and be generous. I have ambition to be better than something I am right now, doesn't mean I only share it amongst myself? Really what is a sin?
2007-08-12 02:14:14 UTC
It can be if it's the wrong ambition. Or ambition to be the best can be very bad.
2007-08-12 02:01:06 UTC
Ambition is passion and drive. Nothing bad as long as you don't cheat along the process.
2007-08-12 01:58:48 UTC
absotively
2007-08-12 01:59:51 UTC
no
Ren
2007-08-12 02:02:34 UTC
it depends...


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