Judges 16:15-21
15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.
17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. [a] And his strength left him.
20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison.
Related Text:
Numbers 6:2-21
Numbers 30:1-2
Proverbs 11:13
Proverbs 20:19
Ecclesiastes 5:4-6
Luke 12:47-48
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The Rundown
Delilah manipulated Samson with one of the oldest lines in the book , “If you love me, you will . . .” This devious tactic has causes much pain throughout history.
Unfortunately, the line often does the job for the manipulator and gives them success in their intentions. But the person who gives in usually loses. In Samson’s case, he lost big time. The same thing can happen to any of us; love is a powerful thing, and people’s misuse of love can be devastating. When you hear someting like, “If you really love me, you’ll . . . steal for me . . . have sex with me . . . take me to this party . . . get stoned with me . . . buy me this . . .” then you desperately need to re-evaluate your relationship with that person.
True love for another person doesn’t pursue selfish advantage. Quite the opposite, true love is serving one another. Jesus says that there is no greater show of love than when a person gives up his life for another.
Evaluate your relationships. Are you seeking selfish gain? Is someone using you? Don’t be the victim or the aggressor. Instead, serve one another in love. – Galatians 5:13
