No greater ambition

Originally appeared on spirituality.com

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave a very important beatitude to his disciples to observe, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

Over the years, I’ve realized that “hungering and thirsting” can be generally descriptive terms for ambition. And with all the negative connotations that word holds, it was nice to discover something positive about it. In that particular beatitude, it’s clear that Jesus is telling his disciples they should have only one aim, and that is to serve God and seek His righteousness.

So the question is, can someone really be spiritually-minded and ambitious at the same time? As I’ve prayed about this, I’ve come to see that a commitment to righteousness—perhaps an ambition to live a life focused on being and doing good—is the basis upon which we welcome God’s blessings into our lives. Practiced in this way, ambition is normal and natural.

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