Selfish Ambition

Selfish Ambition
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit! Wow, nothing, absolutely nothing, with ulterior, selfish motives. Try and think about the last time you did something without thinking about yourself, the last time you did something only thinking of others. Is there a week? A day? An hour? Even a moment? Has there ever been a moment when I was completely focused on someone other than myself? It is not an easy question to answer, because I have a hard time thinking of a time when I could truthfully say that.

When I think about the struggles I have gone through, the times when I have needed a shoulder to cry on, and then the times when I have been happy and thoroughly enjoying just living life, the times when a friend needs to cry on my shoulder, or the times when others are thoroughly enjoying living their life, in and out of all of those times I am thinking of myself. It may not always be obvious to others, and it may not even be at the forefront of my mind, but I can assure you, it is always there. I mean I am writing a paper about my selfish thoughts, they must be pretty abundant! I know that I am a horrible sinner, but I also know that I am not alone, which must mean that other people have selfish thoughts too. What are we thinking? Sometimes when God so graciously reveals my sin to me, specifically my selfish thought life I wonder how I can spend so much time thinking about an awful wretched sinner such as myself. I am not really all that interesting of a person and yet I somehow am able to make sure things work out to make me happier or my life easier. I am able to look down on others for thinking little of me, and on those who do not agree that my plan is the best and that I should get all that I want and think I need.

God did not make this confusing He clearly said do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, it does not become much clearer than that. So why is it then still so difficult for us to be selfless? Why do we continue to work things out according to our plan rather than God’s? It seems as though it would be easy to follow the plan of a God who completely knows and understands who we are down to the core. Oh that is so encouraging! But only when we want it to be right? When it seems as though He is not doing things the right way then it is not encouraging to know that He knows us best and is therefore doing what is best for us. But He will never, and has not yet, left us without hope; He does not command us to be selfless and then leave us with no resources. He has given us His word and the Holy Spirit. If we ask Him to help us to be selfless and ask for His guidance and then read His word and do our part in obeying His commands we can begin the battle against sin. We must however never forget that not only is it a daily battle, but it is a moment by moment battle, and we must live every moment to its fullest.

In addition to the fact that we are commanded not to be selfish and to the fact that or lives will actually be much happier if we do focus on others, our lives are not even about our time here on earth. So spending all of our time, and filling our thought life with, organizing our lives so that we can always have fun and always be content is so much a waste of our time it is laughable that we would spend so much of it doing so. Elizabeth Elliot said, “Heaven is not here, it's there. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next.” That quote has ministered to me so much, because while I focus on being content in this life I am convicted by her words. I am not supposed to be happy in this life. I am here for His glory and should be preparing for Heaven by storing up treasures there, not making my life here more and more comfortable.