EVEN a casual consideration of human nature and human history shows that there is a right and admirable ambition or aspiration which has inspired many men to strive wisely and well to achieve certain laudable purposes designed to bring some good to humanity. On the other hand, we see that all too many other men have been obsessed by mad ambition, generated by selfishness, greed, or other unworthy motives, and that this has misled them and their followers into ways of wickedness and has resulted in disappointment, grief, and loss.
The Bible instances many who were inspired by noble motives and right ambition, and it also records the failure of those whose intentions were wrong. Jacob for many years was handled and harassed by selfish ambition, but after his struggle with and victory over the false sense of self at Peniel, his nature was transformed, his name was changed to Israel, and his aspiration and aim became laudable. Notable among other Old Testament characters was Moses, who labored long, zealously, and unselfishly to liberate the Israelites from bondage to Pharaoh and to their own passions and materialistic beliefs. After Moses' time Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, and others were guided by spiritual aspiration and resolve to glorify God and do much for their people.
The most highly ambitious and most truly successful of all men of all time was Christ Jesus. Yet, he was and is known for his sublime selflessness, great gentleness, and matchless meekness. The Master's aspiration and aim was to submerge self in service to others, to disprove fully the claims of evil and materialism manifested as sin, sickness, limitation, and death; his ambition was to demonstrate the omnipresence and omnipotence of God, good, and to prove perfection and harmony to be the realities of being. Because he subjugated human will and consistently obeyed the divine will, confidently trusting God's power alone, Jesus was eminently successful in his work and in completing his life mission.
