Are your career ambitions leading you somewhere you want to go or somewhere you'll regret?

In this episode, Tom Nelson explores a deeply human and often painful reality: the seductive pull of workplace ambition that promises success but can steal your health, your faith, and your family. Through the moving real-life story of Kevin, a talented leader climbing the corporate ladder and the transformative words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians, Tom shows how there's a radically different kind of ambition available to you.

Drawing on 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12, you'll discover what Paul calls "Holy ambition" a way of working that's marked not by pride, comparison, or the relentless chase for visibility and success, but by humble stewardship, contentment, and faithfulness to God's vocational call on your life.

You'll learn:

-The difference between unholy ambition - the kind that destroys -and holy ambition - the kind that sustains.

-What Paul really means by "make it your ambition to lead a quiet life"

-How to do an honest inventory of your heart's true motivation at work

-Practical "guardrails" to protect yourself from drifting into destructive ambition


Your Monday work matters deeply but not in the way the world tells you. When your ambition is rightly ordered and rooted in Christ, you can flourish without burning out.

Released on 2 Aug 2026