DISCUSSION:
It has been said that a person with great strengths also has great weaknesses. Samson is the epitome of that statement. Judges 13:24 says, “So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.” Samson had the potential to be a superstar, but he let little things creep in and take over his heart. Self-indulgence will weaken your life. Anything left out of control will weaken you spiritually. It doesn’t matter if it’s money, food, sex, emotions, time-management, etc. Think about what’s said in Hebrews 12:1 “… the sin which so easily ensnares us…” We all have a self-indulgence that we struggle with. Samson’s was women. He was sensuous and impulsive. Look at his first encounter with a woman. In Judges 14:2, he tells his parents about a young woman he saw in Timnah and tells them “… ‘Get her for me as a wife.” After appealing to him to find a woman among God’s people, he reiterates to them in verse 3, “…’Get her for me, for she pleases me.’” All he considered was his own pleasure. This went against his vow. Do we do this? “Just a little bit won’t hurt me.” If you were on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, and the captain informed you that there was “just a little leak in the boat”, would you demand to be returned to shore? The same thing applies to us spiritually. If we have a little self-indulgence, we need to return to the shore of God.
To be a truly strong person, we have to discipline our desires. Take these verses for consideration:
1 Corinthians 6:12: “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”
Proverbs 25:28: “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.”
Prayer Requests:_____________________________________________________________