Ambition is limiting
How many times have you been encouraged by some self-help guru on Instagram or TikTok telling you to think big? To dream big? That your limiting beliefs are what stops you in this life. That when you dream up something big that it is a beautiful thing to know that you can accomplish it.
To be frank, if you looked at my social media channels you’d probably find some of that shallow and hollow cheerleading to help get you on the next step. Barnes and Noble is filled with aimless words that are cheering you on to dream bigger, be bigger, do more, be more. We are encouraged to be ambitious. We are told that ambition is a good thing. We are told that the only limits we have in this life are what we put on ourselves.
Well, that’s actually the opposite of what we need to be pursuing in this world. Time and time again the Bible says to humble ourselves. To have a meak posture.
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” James 4:6
This isn’t to say that we should belittle or have the self-confidence of a stinking sandwich in the bottom of your kid’s forgotten backpack. But we do need to adopt the heart posture of humility if we are really going to see the unimaginable miracles and big dreams that we can’t even begin to fathom.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10
Ambition tells us that it is all about our mindset and our ability to push harder and bigger. God tells us that he will fulfill our desires, and our dreams beyond our understanding if we align our will with His.
Ambition would have failed me miserably. Surrender and humility has rewarded me greatly.
23 LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. Jeremiah 10:23
In my late teens & early twenties, if you were to tell me to dream up my ideal man, Someone who I would want to marry, spend the rest of my life with, and be the absolute perfect match for me, I would be miserable today. Why? Because what I would have dreamed up would have been extremely limited to my life experiences and the people that I had met along the way.
When you ask me about my personality, you’ll find I’m the black sheep of my family. Weird, loud and quirky in ways that I didn’t understand or could articulate. I thought I was the problem. I thought there was no one else out there like me. Let alone, someone who I would be attracted to, be lined up in my life, and someone who I could stand to spend the rest of my life with.
My ambition and my goals and dreams were so extremely limiting. Ask 17 year old Paige who would be the perfect guy for me, and I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I didn’t think he existed. Even with all the ability in the world to concoct a perfect reality and relationship, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t imagine a world where I would be so perfectly matched with someone. Fastforward to my 20s and I met the love of my life. This amazing man who matched me so perfectly. This man I couldn’t have dreamt about even if I tried (and trust me, I did). I tried to articulate mutual weirdness in someone else and I just couldn’t see it. And THANK GOD I couldn’t. If I was left to my own ambition, goals and dreams, I wouldn’t be where I am today nor would I be married to the amazing man in the form of my husband.
Dear friend, our own ambition and dreams and goals are so limiting. They’re not doing you any favors. It is only through the surrender and humility of serving our dreams and ambitions to God, that we are only able to see, do, and be more than we could have ever imagined.
Our own ambition is limiting when we hold it back from a limitless God.
Need continued support?
Here are a few resources that I’ve learned from and enjoyed witnessing God’s power in their testimony:
