Ambition in the Life of a Christian Woman

Is There a Place for Ambition in the Life of a Christian Woman?

Posted on by Michele Morin

I had begun to picture cobwebs growing in the corners of my email inbox, and my impatience was rivaled only by my disappointment. After two years of watching my speaking ministry grow, the invitations suddenly stopped coming. 

Of course, I kept all my fraught feelings to myself.

How could I share this particular sadness without appearing to be overly ambitious? I was certain that any mention of my longing to be used by God in this particular way would be misconstrued as a pushy overreach.

I began to think carefully about ambition—my own aspirations as well as the place ambition might play in the life of a Christian woman, a servant of God.

Was it wrong for me to long for more opportunities for service—wrong for me to long for a broader reach?

Ambition, in cooperation with God, is a gift to be offered back to him.

Two Questions for the Ambitious Christian Woman

Holding tightly to God’s hand, I began to interrogate my ambition with some probing questions that I invite you to ask yourself as well:

What are the motives behind your ambition? 

I had to ask myself what was behind my desire to be teaching and speaking to groups of women.  Was it a matter of pride or a need to be special? On one hand, ambition can become a dark cloud of never-quite-there and never-measuring-up as we make an idol of our ceaseless striving. 

On the other hand, it’s good to have aspirations for a life that brings more glory to God. In our spiritual formation, it’s a sign of health to say, “Here’s how I want my life to look,” and then to be convicted by the Spirit when we fall short. 

The Apostle Paul lived his whole long, poured-out life striving for a bigger and more audacious life of service to his Savior: 

Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize.”

(1 Corinthians 9:24). 

Is your identity entirely wrapped up in your ambition?

When a global pandemic effectively deleted women’s conferences and special events and even canceled my little Sunday school class, I realized that, even if I never stood behind a podium ever again, I was still a teacher of God’s Word.

I prepared a weekly lesson for my students and shared it with them virtually. I read stories to my grandkids on Facebook every day during quarantine. I shared a Bible lesson via YouTube for a Christian camp that was trying to figure out how to do ministry remotely.

I poured thousands of words into the keyboard and asked God to use my writing ministry because it was the outlet he had sovereignly provided.

Clearly, God had not changed, and my identity was still based on the foundation of my calling to be his child, and this is the only safe and solid place for my feet to land:  “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:19-20). 

My identity will always be based on who God says I am—not on what I do for him.

Three Prayers for the Ambitious Christian Woman

After some deep soul searching, my heart found its way to three prayers that have come to define my understanding of ambition in the life of a Christian woman:  

Prayer #1: “Lord, let my plans and ambitions cooperate with your eternal purposes.”

We may desire to serve God in a particular way, but the need of the moment for the advancement of God’s Kingdom may require a wholly different offering from us.

Will I be willing? If not, the real question, then, becomes, “Who do I think I am, defining the terms of my own discipleship?”

Isaiah 29:16 says, “You have turned things around as if the potter were the same as the clay. How can what is made say about its maker, ‘He didn’t make me’? How can what is formed say about the one who formed it, ‘He doesn’t understand what he’s doing’?”

When our church needed a teacher for the beginner’s Sunday school class, God made it clear that I was to lay down my much-loved women’s class and take on the glue, glitter, and Goldfish crackers for a season. It was glorious beyond my wildest hopes, but a completely unexpected blessing, a blessing I would never have received if I had been unwilling to work in cooperation with God.

Prayer #2: “God, please take and then transform my desires.”

God is able to perform through our ambitions an utterly unique production of the fruit of the Spirit. His sovereign “no” may be the perfect catalyst for a yield of patience or humility in our hearts.

Conversely, when he chooses to say yes, new opportunities outside our comfort zone offer the testing ground for spirit-granted peace and faithfulness.

The transformation process may not be, at least initially, to my liking. I may be asked to rethink my ambitions and realign my goals to mesh with those of the all-knowing Creator of the universe.

Working in concert with him is the greatest privilege of all.

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

(Romans 12:2)

God may challenge us to rethink our ambitions and realign our goals to mesh with his divine authority.

Prayer #3: “Lord, transfer my will to yours. Your will be done”

It always becomes chillingly apparent to me when I pray, “Your kingdom come; your will be done,” (Matthew 6:10) that I may also, in the process, be praying “My list be undone.”

Am I willing to cooperate with God’s eternal purposes, even if it means my own ambitions must fall by the wayside? Can I enthusiastically invest myself in God’s ambitions—even if they differ from my own?

Words of Encouragement for the Ambitious Christian Woman

Ambition, surrendered to the will of God, has a definite place in the life of a Christian woman.

Historically, women have been the backbone of overseas missionary efforts and of the local church.

It is critical that we enthusiastically invest ourselves in God’s ambitions—even when they differ from our own.

Betty Scott Stam, a missionary to a mountainous and impoverished region of China, was ultimately beheaded because of her faith, but the words of this prayer live on to challenge present-day believers:

“Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all, utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt, and work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost now and forever.”

Ambition, in cooperation with God, is a gift to be offered back to him.

May we find grace to entrust to God our fondest dreams of service, our greatest hopes and ambitions, as we are transformed into his likeness for his glory.

And Now Let’s Talk Books…

There’s strength in numbers, and certainly Identity Theft is proof of that with ten contributors, each sharing her own unique perspective on the truth that who we are in Christ is the most important aspect of who we are. Women are pulled every which way by the voices of culture, tradition, and even the church, but the women who have written essays for this book have their roots sunk deep into theological truth that will serve as a basis for finding and keeping true identity.

Let’s reclaim the truth that we are made in God’s image and that we are his beloved children. We can dare to call ourselves a saint and humbly own the role of a servant. We can rest in a sense of belonging because we are members and citizens—even as we long for our heavenly home.

Each chapter ends with study questions, and I was thrilled to see a suggested verse to memorize as well! After all, it’s from Scripture that we derive the knowledge of our true identity in Christ. So rather than resting on our job title, our kids, our marital status, our address, or our ethnicity as the bedrock for who we are, we experience the fullness of life when we walk around in the knowledge that we are his, for “He is before all things, and in him, all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).

Holding You in the Light,

Rather than resting on job title, kids, marital status, address, or ethnicity as bedrock for who we are, we experience the fullness of life when we walk around in the knowledge that we are in Christ. #identitytheft @TGC @melissabkruger

Free Encouragement in Your Inbox…

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To add this free resource to your pursuit of biblical literacy, simply CLICK HERE. There, on Substack’s website, you’ll find a prompt that looks just like this image for Living Our Days with Michele Morin. Over on that site, simply enter your email and then click on the purple “SUBSCRIBE” button.

You’ll receive a welcome letter to confirm your subscription and monthly encouragement in your email inbox.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees. If you should decide to purchase any of the books or products I’ve shared, simply click on the image, and you’ll be taken directly to the seller. If you decide to buy, I’ll receive a few pennies at no extra cost to you.

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

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Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four married sons and a growing fleet of adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

31 thoughts on “Is There a Place for Ambition in the Life of a Christian Woman?”

  1. I admit there was a time when I wondered why it seemed so easy for some women to be able to find a visible niche. To be seen and admired. – better yet – to be heard. I got over it pretty quickly though and learned to appreciate anonymity and that I am not appointed to preach or influence because I know some things (ask and ye shall receive). I fly under the radar. I write and then let God direct whomsoever He wishes to read. Or not. I’m not seeking to be seen as ‘right!’ or even seen at all. My desire is for good results. I’ve always been an outsider. I finally realized sometimes it takes an outsider to reach other outsiders.

    Romans 9:21 – Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

    21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
    22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
    23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
    24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.
    25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
    26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

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    1. Well, I’m one of the people who is grateful for your voice. And I am alongside you in the acceptance of the role God has assigned. I’m committed to being available to my family at a certain level, and I’m quickly learning that this is a boundary and a guard rail as well as a limitation to my availability on a broader scale. And I can’t say that it’s a bad thing…

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  2. The timing of your words is perfect for me as I am faced with making a decision that means giving up one thing but gaining another. This says it all —> Ambition, in cooperation with God, is a gift to be offered back to him. Thank you for your wisdom and scripture choices.

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    1. Well, I will be praying, then, for wisdom for this decision. I had a similar experience today, the offer of a good and exciting opportunity that clearly conflicted with something here on the homefront, and while it was a disappointment to say a clear “no,” at the same time, I was grateful for the boundaries and guardrails God has set up around my life.

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  4. I really enjoyed this, Michele. It’s not a topic we hear or read much about. Ambition for Kingdom work can so easily shift to self-promotion or a desire for approval or attention instead. We need to continually evaluate our motives and adjust our focus as needed.

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  8. […] Is There a Place for Ambition in the Life of a Christian Woman? “I began to think carefully about ambition—my own aspirations as well as the place ambition might play in the life of a Christian woman, a servant of God. Was it wrong for me to long for more opportunities for service—wrong for me to long for a broader reach?” […]

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  9. Michele: Sometimes God leads us to do things that we might not feel capable to do. And then, there are times He leads us away from what we have been doing for Him and leads us into other areas of ministry. This is what has happened to me.

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  10. Pertinent insight here, Michele, as our culture tends to pull us into striving for “success.” I’ve copied your prayer headings on a 3 x 5 card for my prayer box. These are thoughts I need to bring before God often, to keep my ambitions in line with his.

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  11. Questioning our motives is a key ingredient to anyone who is trying to life a life of humility and authenticity. It’s easy to get caught up in the doing without stepping back to look at the being. This is another topic that is yet again a perfect fit for both your word and my word of the year. 🙂

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  13. You hit on wrestlings I continue to have, thanks for sharing! I resonate a lot with prayer 3, to trust the Lord’s will be done. In books, I too loved Identity Theft, really valuable for grounding our identity in Christ.

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  14. I don’t know that I struggle with ambition – I think it’s good. I think a lack of ambition on any front can be detrimental. However, regardless of my plans or goals I’ve always prayed not my will but thine. My ambition never supersedes God’s authority in my life. So I don’t think women should struggle with ambition (that may be cultural) and there’s definitely a place for ambition for men and women.

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    1. I hear you and I know some of my discomfort with ambition is cultural. And I love your benchmark for “appropriateness”being that it doesn’t supersede God’s authority. Very wise…

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  16. I think this is an area that many of us struggle with – trying to discern whether our ambitions and desires are our own or put into our hearts by God. And I think these prayers are very helpful in navigating that and keeping our self-centeredness in check.

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