Delilah's Kind of Love

Judges 16:15-17
Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

Oh, the famous story of Samson and Delilah. The first three times she asks, Delilah gets lies from Samson (one would think he'd realize that she was working with his enemies and leave her or kill her or something. Although he did love her, which probably blinded his judgement). So now she uses our theme for this week: love.

Next Sunday is Valentine's Day, so we're going to be exploring love all this week.

Delilah used Samson's love to get what she wanted from him. Basically, she was using him. (Which is not protecting him, therefore is not love). She guilted him into telling her what she wanted.

The only application to our life that I can think of is the boyfriend (or girlfriend, I'm not going to be sexist here!) who says 'but I love you!' to get sex. 'How can you really love me if you won't tell me the truth!' 'How can you really love me if you wont -insert sinful act here-?'

It's more important to follow what God says and honor God's wishes (such as not telling his evil wife how to kill him) than it is to let that person feel 'loved'. When we're in love, like Samson was, sometimes we don't see everything as clearly as we should, which is why we need to trust in God and listen to His advice.

In His Service,
Joyce