Should you have ambitions in 2022? It depends …

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Here we are, already more than halfway through the first month of 2022!

Many people jumped into the new year armed with a list of New Year resolutions. Others scoffed at the idea of “resolutions” and instead had “goals” for the year. Still others, thinking themselves to be more specific, had “plans” to pursue for the year ahead. And others … were just going to “wing it”!

Whatever ideas you had for the new year, it could likely be accurate to say you started 2022 with certain ambitions, an earnest desire to accomplish something specific. One reason why we often fail to achieve our ambitions is because we fail to first consider the cost of pursuing what we desire. Kind of like the experience related in the “Kool-Aid Stand Parable” as shared by Rick Pendleton:

    Jason wanted to buy Tubby’s old bike. Tubby got a new one for his birthday and would sell Jason his old one for $10. It was a great deal. The problem was that Jason didn’t have any money. His cousin, Scott, in another town, was making good money with his Kool-Aid stand. So, Jason decided to do the same.

    First he needed a stand. He went into his Dad’s shop and got a piece of plywood, a saw, some nails and a hammer. With the stand built, Jason now needed a sign. He went to his brother’s room and got some poster board. He painted a fine sign and nailed it on the front. One problem … NO KOOL-AID and NO MONEY to buy Kool-Aid!

    So, he went to his sister. She lent him 55 cents … 50 cents for the Kool-Aid, and 5 cents interest. Jason thought, I’ll make that much and more, lots more.

    Business was great. Tubby bought three cups. Dad bought one after work. Jason even had to add water to make the Kool-Aid go farther. He would shake the box every few minutes and listen to the coins ring, and Jason would sing, “I’m in the money.”

    That night Jason counted his money. He was so excited … $13.00 … enough to buy the bike and some comic books to boot. He ran to tell his Dad the news.

    And then he learned a hard lesson. The wood was for a special project Dad had planned, it cost $12. Jason’s heart broke as he gave his Dad the $12. All that work for $1. “No,” said his brother, “you owe me 50 cents for the poster board because I need it for school.” Jason stood there looking at 50 cents. What a raw deal … all that work, all that time, all that excitement … and all he had was 50 cents. “No!” said his sister, “you owe me 55 cents.” Jason handed her the 50 cents and said, “I’ll have to owe you the nickel.”

    Jason walked away, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders slumped. “I didn’t even get a cup of Kool-Aid.”

It’s one thing to have an ambition, another to think it through, consider the cost, and what it will take to actually achieve your ambitions.

So, should you have ambitions for 2022?

It depends on what kind of ambitions you desire!

Scripture gives us an important insight when it comes to our ambitions:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others,” Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV).

Notice the Apostle Paul, who wrote the passage of scripture above, doesn’t say “Don’t be ambitious!” but instead implores us to not seek and act out of selfish ambition. Yet, when we sit down to consider resolutions, or goals, or plans for a new year, the truth is we’re usually center stage in those thoughts and considerations.

James picks up where Paul left off, helping us understand there’s a better way to live than pursuing selfish ambitions:

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind,” James 3:13-16.

Jesus helps us by boldly laying out what should be our primary ambition in life in any year:

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need,” Matthew 6:33.

That’s not the only ambition we can have in life, but Jesus certainly identifies it as what should be our main ambition. We can find in the Bible still other things that should be additional “ambitions,” such as this one from James:

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you,” James 1:27.

So, when it comes to the ambitions you have for 2022, are they selfish ambitions, or do they humbly take into account others? Where does seeking the kingdom of God, or refusing to let the world corrupt you, rank in your ambitions for the year ahead? Have you adequately considered the cost of what you’re ambitious about in 2022?

Scotty