"The itch to have the preeminence is one disease for which no natural cure has ever be found." - A.W. Tozer

Read what some other writers had to say about this subject -
 
Josh Billings - "Ambition is like hunger; it obeys no law but its appetite."
William Bridge - "Seek not great things for yourself in this world, for if your garments be long they will make you stumble."
John Calvin - "To live happily the evils of ambition and self-love must be plucked from our hearts by the roots."
Thomas Otway - "Ambition is a lust that is never quenched, but grows more inflamed and madder by enjoyment."
George Swinnock - "Some climb so high that they break their necks."
(quotes taken from More Gathered Gold - a treasury of quotations for Christians)

The Scriptures abound with examples of those who were driven by the lust of ambition. They were not content to stay in the place where God assigned them. They oftentimes became dissatisfied, rebellious, and unruly toward the authority that He placed over them. In each case, their rebellion brought them face to face with the fiery judgment and wrath of the Almighty.
 
#1 Eve
 
Genesis 3:5 - "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
 
The devil tempted Eve with the lust of ambition. He told her that - if she would only eat of the forbidden fruit - she would then be like God - be equal to Him. No longer would she be subject to Him or He be sovereign over her life. She bought the devil's lie and fell to the temptation of ambition. 
 
#2 Tower of Babel
 
Genesis 11:4 - "And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'
 
These people - in building the Tower of Babel - were attempting to defy God. He brought a flood upon the world as a judgment for man's ungodliness. However, He promised never to destroy the known world again with flood waters. Rather than depend upon His promise, these people built a tower so high to outwit Him - at least this is what some commentaries state.
 
But what was their sole purpose in building this Tower that reached unto the heavens? Ambition! These people wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted distinction, preeminence, and self-aggrandizement. They had an insatiable thirst for power. 
 
#3 Aaron & Miriam
 
Numbers 12:2 - "And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath He not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it."
 
Aaron and Miriam received a prophetic anointing on their lives. God used them to speak His word.  Instead of being satisfied with that, they also desired the governing anointing that was placed on Moses' shoulders. They were driven by the lust of ambition to oppose their very own brother over a personal matter. God brought His fiery judgment upon them by smiting Miriam with leprosy. 
 
#4 Korah & His Company
 
Numbers 16:3 - "And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?"
 
Numbers 16:9 - Korah and the sons of Levi were not satisfied with doing the "service of the tabernacle of the LORD" nor standing "before the congregation to minister unto them." They wanted Aaron's position as well. They wanted the priesthood.
 
They found fault with God's leaders - Moses and Aaron. They accused these two chosen vessels of assuming the most important positions, domineering others, and taking the honor upon themselves.
 
These men were rebels. They were proud, envious, ambitious, wicked, and unreasonable men who despised the governing factors that God placed over them. 
 
#5 Absalom
 
2 Samuel 15:4 - "Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!"
 
2 Samuel 18:18 - "Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's place."
 
"Oh that I were made a judge!" Doesn't that sound just like the voice of ambition? Absalom had all the pomp, pleasure, and ease that he could ever desire - yet he thirsted for power. In order to satisfy this insatiable lust, he had to undermine and reproach his own Father's present government and kingdom. How deceitful were his methods in doing so for he feigned humility in order to win the hearts of the people. The truth of the matter was that he was extremely proud and self-seeking.
 
2 Samuel 18:17-18 - In order to keep his name in remembrance, he erected a pillar - a marble monument - in the king's dale and called it - "Absalom's place." However, his ambition drove him to a bitter end - his dead body was thrown into a pit in the woods where a "great heap of stones" were laid upon him. This became the final monument by which others remembered this ambitious rebel. 
 
#6 Adonijah
 
1 Kings 1:5 - "Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king; and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him."
 
Adonijah was David's fourth son. He wasn't too concerned about his father's feeble and near-death condition. All he cared about was his driving ambition to be the next king - "I will be king." In spite of the fact that he knew that his brother Solomon was chosen for the task, he still pursued the kingdom to his own detriment.  
 
#7 Sennacherib
 
2 Kings 19:23 - "By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof; and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel."
 
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, boasted that he would come with chariots upon chariots and overtake the land of Judah. Nothing would be able to stop him. The "mountains" represented the inaccessible parts. The "lodgings of his borders" were the highest point on the mountain range. His main ambition was to totally destroy the entire country from one end to the other. Since no other nations were able to stand before the mighty kings of Assyria, he assumed - in his craze for power - that Judah also would be no match.
 
#8 Diotrephes
 
3 John 1:9 - "I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not."
 
3 John 1:10 - It is said that Diotrephes maintained a position in the church of Gaius. He was an officer of some sort - a deacon or bishop. He loved to rule, be the first, be at the head of all things, and lord it over the others. His ambitious ways caused much trouble for the Apostle John for this proud man opposed him and his fellow laborers with "malicious words" and cast out anyone in the church who dared to receive them. Of what spirit was this man?
 
#9 Antichrist
 
2 Thessalonians 2:4 - "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."
 
Lastly, the Scriptures tell us that there will arise - on the scene - a man of ambition who will be Satan-incarnate. He will usurp the place of God, assuming His authority, power, dominion, and honor before the people.

The Lord Jesus instructed us in Mark 9:35 as to what our position should be in the Body of Christ and in this life - "...If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all."
 
We are not to desire to be "first" but the "last of all" - the "servant of all." 
We are not to see how high we can climb or how far we can exalt ourselves.
On the contrary, we should seek to be low with a humble, mild, and meek disposition.
 
Luke 9:46 tells us about a controversy that arose among the disciples over who was the greatest. The corruption of ambition was sneaking its way into the midst of Jesus' chosen disciples. Immediately, He addressed this issue  -
 
Luke 9:46-48 - "Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest.
And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their own heart, took a child, and set him by Him,
And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in My name receiveth Me: and whosoever shall receive Me receiveth Him that sent Me: for He that is least among you all, the same shall be great."

He told us in Matthew 5:3 that the "poor in spirit" are the ones who are indeed "blessed."
They -
...are the ones who are in total opposition to the pride, vanity, or ambition of this world
...have a humble opinion of themselves, are self-denying, value others above themselves, and consider themselves unworthy of the least of God's mercies
...are content to be in the place where God puts them
...willingly and humbly accept His providence in their lives, knowing that they deserve none of His wonderful favors
...recognize their deep need for Him and His true riches.
 
These are the ones whom God protects as David instructed us in Psalm 116:6 - "The LORD preserveth the simple..." They are called "simple," but not in a bad sense of the word. It means that they are open, sincere, frank, upright, and without guile. They have no confidence in their own flesh but place all their trust in the Lord God. They recognize their total insufficiency without Christ. He is their all-in-all.
 
The Apostle Paul alluded to this same simplicity of heart and life in 2 Corinthians 1:12 when he exhorted the brethren - "For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward."  
 
"In simplicity and godly sincerity" - This denotes that our walk with God is to be without any double-dealing or craftiness. It is to be straightforward, candid, open, plain - with no ulterior motives or sinister purposes involved.
 
2 Corinthians 11:3 tells us that Paul feared for the Church that Satan would come along and corrupt their minds and steal from them the "simplicity that is in Christ."
 
Our adversary would love nothing more than to draw our affections away from the Lord Jesus.
He wants us to get our focus on ourselves -
...to grow discontent in the place where God has us
...to despise the government and spiritual authority that the Lord has placed over us
...to strive for the preeminence, lust for ambition, and thirst for power
That is what he did, and he fell from his high position.
He wants us to fall from our place of excellency as well.
 
2 Corinthians 2:11 - The Scriptures warn us - "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." 

We will not make it as Christians if we go the way of this world and Satan - the way of striving for the preeminence and lusting for power, prestige, honor, and superiority. The only way that we will run this race and win is if we heed the words of our Master and humble ourselves and become as little children  - with the disposition of having a total dependency on God and the concept of an utter insufficiency in ourselves.
 
As John Calvin said - "To live happily the evils of ambition and self-love must be plucked from our hearts by the roots."
 
Let's determine that we are going to allow the Holy Spirit to lay the "axe"(Matthew 3:10) of God's Word to any roots of ambition and self-love in our hearts today.

May God Bless His Word.
Connie