Judges 16:4-6
4 After this [Samson] loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”
Yesterday's reading was about Samson; now let's look at Delilah. Delilah is an example of someone who uses sex, and uses other people,
for their own desires. Ideally sexual relations should be about intimacy and caring for the other person, but sometimes we use it as a means to some other end. Especially for the addict, other people can just be something we use to get our relief or satisfaction. In that situation, there is no caring for the other person, no giving to them out of love. Instead we are taking from them something intimate in order to satisfy some unmet need in us. For Delilah, there was no real caring for Samson; instead he was just a means to get wealthy, and in the end he was hurt and discarded by her. It is easy to see the wrong in this, but we need to examine our own experiences and repent of situations where we have hurt others by our own selfish actions.
Lord, forgive me for my lack of concern for others, and help me to love others as you would have me love them.
4 After this [Samson] loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”
Yesterday's reading was about Samson; now let's look at Delilah. Delilah is an example of someone who uses sex, and uses other people,
for their own desires. Ideally sexual relations should be about intimacy and caring for the other person, but sometimes we use it as a means to some other end. Especially for the addict, other people can just be something we use to get our relief or satisfaction. In that situation, there is no caring for the other person, no giving to them out of love. Instead we are taking from them something intimate in order to satisfy some unmet need in us. For Delilah, there was no real caring for Samson; instead he was just a means to get wealthy, and in the end he was hurt and discarded by her. It is easy to see the wrong in this, but we need to examine our own experiences and repent of situations where we have hurt others by our own selfish actions.
Lord, forgive me for my lack of concern for others, and help me to love others as you would have me love them.