I knew that I was supposed to write about love this month but I didn’t understand why. It wasn’t until I was standing in the middle of a complete mess that I understood the reason why God wanted me to write about love.
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend” ~Martin Luther King Jr.
This was the quote I noticed hanging on the wall as my friend scrambled around trying to straighten up so I wouldn’t feel bombarded by the mess in her room. Wow, I thought to myself in that moment, love must have some sort of power to be able to unite enemies as friends. My mind immediately shifted from focusing on my friend cleaning to thinking about the dominion and influence that love truly does have over people’s actions and decisions.
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend” ~Martin Luther King Jr.
This was the quote I noticed hanging on the wall as my friend scrambled around trying to straighten up so I wouldn’t feel bombarded by the mess in her room. Wow, I thought to myself in that moment, love must have some sort of power to be able to unite enemies as friends. My mind immediately shifted from focusing on my friend cleaning to thinking about the dominion and influence that love truly does have over people’s actions and decisions.
I know this story sounds extremely deep for me to simply have been standing in a room but I found it a bit humorous how even in the midst of a mess God was able to find something so simple to bring to light and speak directly to me.
As we step forth into February, the month practically known around the U.S. as the month of love. I believe that God wants for each one of you reading this blog to understand the power of love and why it is important for you to guard your heart.
Have you ever heard or read about the story of Samson and Delilah in the Bible?
Samson fell madly in love with a Philistine woman by the name of Delilah. One day, the rulers of the Philistines asked Delilah to see if she could lure Samson into showing her the secret behind his great strength (which was given to him by God). The Philistines wanted to know about Samson’s great strength so they could seize him. In return for Delilah seducing Samson and getting him to confess his secret to her, the rulers of the Philistines ensured her that “Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver “ (Judges 16:5 NIV).
As we step forth into February, the month practically known around the U.S. as the month of love. I believe that God wants for each one of you reading this blog to understand the power of love and why it is important for you to guard your heart.
Have you ever heard or read about the story of Samson and Delilah in the Bible?
Samson fell madly in love with a Philistine woman by the name of Delilah. One day, the rulers of the Philistines asked Delilah to see if she could lure Samson into showing her the secret behind his great strength (which was given to him by God). The Philistines wanted to know about Samson’s great strength so they could seize him. In return for Delilah seducing Samson and getting him to confess his secret to her, the rulers of the Philistines ensured her that “Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver “ (Judges 16:5 NIV).
After hearing the offer from the Philistines, Delilah asked Samson 4 different times to tell her how he could be tied up and subdued (read Judges 16: 6-17 NIV). Samson kept making up different stories to entertain Delilah every time she asked him about the secret behind his strength, but Delilah was disappointed to find that Samson was deceiving her after she would put to test everything he told her. For Delilah’s fourth attempt asking Samson to tell her his secret, she brought up love stating, “’How can you say, I love you, when you won’t confide in me?’” (Judges 16:15 NIV) In addition to that, Delilah nagged Samson for days until he finally caved in and told her the truth.
Once Delilah knew the truth of how shaving Samson’s head would strip him away of his great strength she told the Philistine rulers and set Samson up.
“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 silver in their hands. 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. And his strength left him” (Judges 16:18-19NIV).
The Philistines ended up capturing Samson, gouging out his eyes and binding him in chains while taking him to a prison in a place called Gaza where he eventually died.
Once Delilah knew the truth of how shaving Samson’s head would strip him away of his great strength she told the Philistine rulers and set Samson up.
“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 silver in their hands. 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. And his strength left him” (Judges 16:18-19NIV).
The Philistines ended up capturing Samson, gouging out his eyes and binding him in chains while taking him to a prison in a place called Gaza where he eventually died.
After hearing about Samson and Delilah and being able to see how Samson was easily deceived by Delilah due to his love and desire for her, I think that we can all agree that it is important to guard your heart so you don’t get played but let’s go a step further.
Through this story we can see how Samson’s heart/love for Delilah had the power to dictate his decision in revealing his divine power to her. There is a popular proverb in the bible that reads “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV).
To prevent us from ending up like Samson, we must first be able to understand and recognize that we are driven, motivated and inspired by our hearts desires. In order to guard our hearts, learning how to love and put God first before trying to love anyone or anything else is essential.
Keeping your heart hidden in God and staying focused on God is the key that allows God to step in and take control. Once you have mastered how to surrender your heart to God first, God is able to connect you to the right person or lead you in the right direction so that you do not get sidetracked by things or people that do not serve a purpose in helping you reach your Destiny.
“My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways” (Proverbs 23:26 NIV)
Through this story we can see how Samson’s heart/love for Delilah had the power to dictate his decision in revealing his divine power to her. There is a popular proverb in the bible that reads “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV).
To prevent us from ending up like Samson, we must first be able to understand and recognize that we are driven, motivated and inspired by our hearts desires. In order to guard our hearts, learning how to love and put God first before trying to love anyone or anything else is essential.
Keeping your heart hidden in God and staying focused on God is the key that allows God to step in and take control. Once you have mastered how to surrender your heart to God first, God is able to connect you to the right person or lead you in the right direction so that you do not get sidetracked by things or people that do not serve a purpose in helping you reach your Destiny.
“My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways” (Proverbs 23:26 NIV)
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We are thankful for your unconditional love. Thank you for loving us through our wrongs, loving us through our lows and loving us even when we didn’t know how to love ourselves or those around us. We come to you acknowledging that you are love and before we can truly love we must guard our hearts by learning how to love through you. We pray that you create in us a pure heart (Psalm 51:10 NIV) so that our hearts are hidden in you God. Teach us how to love genuinely, teach us how to love purely and most importantly, teach us how to love unconditionally. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Heavenly Father,
We are thankful for your unconditional love. Thank you for loving us through our wrongs, loving us through our lows and loving us even when we didn’t know how to love ourselves or those around us. We come to you acknowledging that you are love and before we can truly love we must guard our hearts by learning how to love through you. We pray that you create in us a pure heart (Psalm 51:10 NIV) so that our hearts are hidden in you God. Teach us how to love genuinely, teach us how to love purely and most importantly, teach us how to love unconditionally. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.