Samson and Delilah: Lessons From An Unequally Yoked Relationship

Since I've had a large amount of positive reviews on my recent article, " 4 Reasons Why Being In A Relationship With An Unbeliever Is Not A Good Idea", it prompted me to write about Samson and Delilah and the effects of an unequally yoked relationship. Many of the stories in the Bible are lessons that we can apply to our daily lives. They are warnings that will help us realize that when we go outside of the will of God, we will encounter adverse consequences.

Before I begin with the story of Samson and Delilah, it is imperative that I discuss who Samson was. Before Samson was born, he was chosen to be a Nazarite. A Nazarite is someone who was called "holy unto the Lord" (Numbers 6:8). This person could not take wine or anything made from grapes; he may not cut the hair of his head and he may not touch the dead (Jewish Encyclopedia.com). Today, Christians are called to be holy. The Bible says in 1 Peter 1:15, "Be ye holy for I am holy". This is why we cannot do whatever we want and date whomever we want. We are called to be separate from the world.

From my readings of Samson, I discovered that this young man had an issue with the spirit of lust. Before he met Delilah, it says in Judges 16:1, "Then went Samson to Gaza and saw there an harlot and went in unto her." His lust began in his eyes which led him to sleep with her. This young man was called to be a Nazarite, but he gave into his lusts. For a man to sleep with a prostitute denotes that he had a big problem with controlling his flesh.  Many of us blame Delilah for Samson's downfall; however, if Samson would have dealt with his inner struggles, I really believe he wouldn't have fallen for Delilah. Many of us know the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Joseph didn't yield to his flesh when Potiphar's wife asked him to have sex with her. Although she asked Joseph multiple times to sleep with her, he refused to give in to her request.

In Judges 16:4 is where we are first introduced to Delilah. Delilah was a Philistine woman who Samson was deeply in love with. The Israelites were not allowed to intermingle with people of a different faith, but Samson clearly ignored what God said about being unequally yoked. Samson failed to guard his heart and this caused him to fall in love with Delilah. When we fail to guard our heart, we will find ourselves hurt and miserable.

Samson was so blinded by love that even when Delilah tried to seduce him into telling her where his strength was, he just ignored her conniving ways. When people are in an unequally yoked relationship, they sometimes ignore the obvious. The signs that the relationship will not work is right there before them, but they ignore the signs. Later, if the individuals decide to marry each other, the saved spouse might say I didn't know this person was so incompatible and then they are stuck in a miserable marriage that God never intended for them to be in.

In the end, Samson finally gave in to Delilah and told her where his strength came from which was his hair. Samson had this special strength from God, but when he cut his hair, the Lord left him. Because of Samson's disobedience, he lost his strength, became blind, and eventually had a premature death.

Let us not put ourselves in the same situation as Samson. Let go of that person who is going to be a hindrance to us spiritually. I know this may be a very hard task to do, but it's something that needs to be done. I think it would be fair to have a conversation with the person before ending the relationship. The proper thing to do is sit down with the individual, explain that you feel this relationship is against God's word, and end the relationship. If you feel that you are in too deep with this person, you may have to make some radical changes. If that means deleting this person's phone number from your phone, then do it. If the person is on your job, you may have to find another job somewhere else. Most of all be prayerful about the situation and God will work it out.

In conclusion, there's one thing that I have learned about being attracted to someone. Just because you are attracted to someone does not mean you should be in a relationship with that person. I don't care how attractive this individual is, walk away if you know they are not going to be beneficial to your spiritual growth. You may have to run  :)


References

"Nazarite." JewishEncyclopedia.com.19 Aug 2014. http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11395-nazarite


Your Sister in Christ,