While ambition is what you desire and pursue to become, purpose is what God created you for, and what He desires for your life.
No matter how great an ambition you have envisioned for yourself, it is dwarfed by God's purpose for your life.
No matter what beautiful life you desire to achieve by your ambition, it is bested by the life you will live by your purpose.
In fact, your ambition is only a minute part of your purpose, if you will pursue it.
By pursuing God's purpose for your life you will fulfil more than your ambition, no matter how great it is.
Self-driven or God-driven
While ambition is mostly self-achieved and self-motivated, purpose is God-driven and God-fulfilled.
To find your purpose and fulfil it, all you need to do is align with God. He created you! He knows you best.
Ambition can make you a national phenomenon; purpose makes you a global impact.
Ambition is flesh-driven, but purpose is Spirit-driven.
Ambition brings momentary happiness with it, but purpose brings joy everlasting, full of glory.
Someone I love so much once declared, "Making me a president of... will be a demotion." That is what purpose can do to a man!
Made for God's pleasure
All things are made for God's pleasure, and that includes you. If you are not giving God pleasure by your life, you will never find true and enduring pleasure in life, no matter how much you achieve.
Purpose is the difference between Adam living in the garden and Adam out of the garden. God made him a king in His garden, but Satan turned him into a slave outside God's garden!
Purpose is a man leaving a lucrative job to pick up God's assignment with little or no pay. There is no sense in that, is there? That is what purpose can do. It may not make sense in the beginning, but it will at the end.
Ambition is being worldly wise but godly foolish. Purpose is being worldly foolish but godly wise.
The first step
The doorway, the first step to purpose, is accepting Jesus. Any other thing is a complete waste of time and life.
What are you fulfilling in life, beloved? Ambition or purpose?
For a living example of purpose beating ambition, read Dr Paul Enenche: the doctor who left medicine to build Dunamis. For more teaching, see our Teaching section.
Questions this article answers
What is the difference between purpose and ambition?
Ambition is what you desire and pursue to become; it is self-motivated and self-achieved. Purpose is what God created you to become; it is God-driven and God-fulfilled. Your ambition, at its best, is only a small part of your purpose.
How do I find God's purpose for my life?
Align with God. He created you and knows you best. The first step is accepting Jesus; from there, purpose unfolds as you follow him, even when the path makes no sense at first.
Can ambition be bad for a Christian?
Ambition is not wrong in itself, but it is limited: it is flesh-driven, brings only momentary happiness, and at most makes you a national phenomenon. Purpose is Spirit-driven, brings everlasting joy, and makes a global impact.
Why would someone leave a good job for ministry?
Because purpose is worth more than pay. A man leaving a lucrative job to take up God's assignment makes no worldly sense, but it is godly wisdom, and it makes sense in the end.