**And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not** Judges 14:16
Lack of True Love in our lives damages our hearts. To never be truly loved affects every area of our being. It leaves us destitute of the idea and understanding of how to love others. And this deficit of True Love causes many to search for it in the wrong places and in the wrong ways. Having never experienced the tenderness, generosity, or the unselfishness of True Love, they go looking for it in other forms.
Some become obsessed with physical appearance, willing to do themselves harm in order to have a certain measure of beauty, misguidedly trying to live up to the self-deceived expectations of others. We see it every day in the over botoxed actresses on television and in the movies.
Some fall into the Trap of believing that love is only a physical act, and give themselves to anyone who’s happy to take advantage of them. This is very common in the Young, but if, in time, a person doesn’t receive healthier information on love, their sexuality becomes the only basis for a relationship and they are further damaged by a series of relationships based on this concept and pattern of false love.
If you know the story of Samson and Delilah, you know that Samson spent most of his life living to satisfy his own desires. If he wanted something, he took it, used it, abused it, and felt no remorse.
Delilah, as well, was a manipulative and deceitful woman, loyal only to the person that paid the highest price for her Talents.
Both of these characters are examples of people whose lives are void of True Love. Any positive aspects of their relationships were only a means to an end. There was no sincerity of heart, no desire to please the other, but only two people taking advantage of the other for their own personal gain.
They are the villains of any story. The ones who only take and never give back anything positive in a relationship. They are the people that we want to turn our backs on, walk away from, or at least keep them at a healthy distance.
Our natural instinct is to turn away from them, to keep them from disrupting our tranquil world. But, I believe that God calls us to love these damaged, unlovable. people.
It is not an easy job. It is time consuming, frustrating and discouraging to work with those whose past has damaged their minds, hearts and bodies. But they are the people that need love more than anyone else.
This is not to say that we should allow them to completely disrupt our lives. But what kind of person could Delilah have been if someone had taught her that love is kind, and patient, honest, unselfish, and has no ulterior motives?
What kind of man could Samson have been, had he found a woman that could love him unconditionally and unselfishly and be completely loyal to him?
And what kind of heroes could our spouses and our children be if we showed them Christ’s True Love? Unconditional, merciful, edifying, strengthening Love?
True Love is necessary for everyone’s well-being.
True Love is the cure for damaged hearts.