The Power of Sexual Delusion

We have people in all sectors of society being accused of improper sexual actions. Probably most of them are true. I say that because there are probably some that are not true. Anyway, we should not be surprised as sex has been cheapened and stolen from the place where God intended it to be.

I was thinking about Samson this morning. You know, the Bible character. You can read his story in Judges starting in chapter 13. If you don't know the story then take a few minutes to read it. I think you will find it interesting, amusing and sad.

I think Samson had some sexual dysfunction because he hung out with women he shouldn't have. He should have known better.

In chapter 16 of Judges we see how the power of sexual delusion works. Samson meets Delilah whose mission was to destroy him. The Philistines wanted to know the secret of Samson's strength. So Samson tells Delilah a lie and after they fail to capture him, she convinces him to tell her another lie. Again they try to seize him but fail. Once more this scenario is repeated. Finally Samson breaks down and tells her the truth. This time he is captured, his eyes are gouged out and he is taken prisoner.

Can you read that story without shaking your head? How could he be so stupid? So there we see the power of sexual delusion. If Samson had been in his right mind he would have never been with Delilah in the first place. But even more sure, he would have fled after she betrayed him the first time.

In his sexual delusion, Samson was blind long before his eyes were gouged out. Passion and emotion ruled his life as he acted as an animal in heat. Common sense was long gone. What ruled his life was the lust that had consumed him.

A side note here: when people are involved in a dating relationship and move into a physical relationship they start to lose their objectivity so emotion and passion can become the guiding force. I can't number the times I have seen this happen. They might be involved with someone who is either not good for them or plain bad. It doesn't matter how many friends or family object, they can't see it.

So back to sexual delusion. With this in mind we can understand why so many people have done crazy sexual things. The sexual obsession, out of control, takes over and is followed by stupid and stupider things.

Here is something I read the other night:

While we may think of an idol as a statue of wood, stone, or metal worshiped by pagans, in reality an idol is anything apart from God that we depend on to be happy, fulfilled, or secure. It is anything other than God that motivates and masters us, anything we love and pursue in place of God. Idols begin with desires—often good and healthy desires. But when our desire becomes a demand, when we start believing that the object of desire is essential to our fulfillment and well-being, when it begins to control our thoughts and behavior, whatever it is we want has become an idol ( I Corinthians 6:12). What we want is not the problem; the problem is that we want it too much.

So if we want to go deeper with God, we must search our hearts for idols. This isn't easy because we tend to justify ourselves and disguise our real desires so we won't have to let go of what we love. Do you need to examine your life for idols, for desires that have become demands? Going deeper with God is a process of identifying and confessing our idols one by one and cooperating with God as he removes them, bit by bit, from our hearts.
~From The One Year Book of Hope by Nancy Guthrie

So where am I and where are we? It may not be sexual but is there something in your life that makes you do dumb things? It could be food, alcohol, hobbies, work, comfort, pride, or some other thing that has become more than it should be. If you don't see something then you may have already lost your eyes. Remember, the essence of blind spots is that we are blind to them.

Philip