The Story of Samson: When Love Becomes A Bad Thing

If you have ever spent time with me then you may have heard me ask why parents name their children Samson. Or aren't names believed to have a significant impact in a child's life?

So why Samson?

I would never name my child Samson. Even if I have 200 sons and run out of names I would rather call my child 'Name' than call him 'Samson'.

"Ahn Okiemute it's not that deep na or did a man called Samson steal your money and broke your heart?"

No.

I don't even personally know anyone called Samson. Maybe as a surname but not as a name.
'So why wouldn't you name your child Samson?' You may ask.

It's because of the first man who bore that name. Remember him?

The Nazarite, Manoah's son who was the strongest man in the Bible.

Remember him now?

The man who fell in love with Delilah na? Ehen!

Now you know him and by the way Delilah is another name I'm sure most people wouldn't give to their daughters.

Now back to my story about Samson.

Samson was the strongest man in the Bible physically but the weakest in my opinion emotionally and that was his undoing.

His biggest mistake was falling in love - with the wrong woman.

This is not to say falling in love is wrong but when you let your feelings control you then it can be a bad thing - that's a lesson I learned from Samson.

I'll go on to list other lessons I learned from Samson and I hope they help you understand why I wouldn't name my son Samson but first let me give you a brief story about him.

Samson was born at a time when Israel was under the bondage of the Philistines. He was born a Nazarite to a woman who was barren and his sole purpose was to deliver Israel from the Philistine. In order to fulfill that purpose God gave him supernatural strength and his secret was his hair - his hair was to never be cut or he would lose his strength.

So our beloved Samson grew to be strong, no razor touched his hair (as a Nazarite) and he did help Israel fight the Philistines.

Imagine one man pulling up a whole city gate and running uphill with it. That was Samson. He killed a Lion with his bare hands as well as about a thousand Philistines with the jaw bone of an ass - singlehandedly.

Samson was so strong that no man could stand or overpower him as such the Philistines had to send a woman to do the job of bringing Samson down.

Her name was Delilah.

Samson fell in love with Delilah knowing well that she was an enemy and that marked the beginning of the end for him - and his purpose.

So back to the mistakes Samson made:

1. Samson let his feelings control him. When Delilah asked him the source of his strength, Samson lied 3 times and on all occasions she tried to get the Philistines to kill him. That was enough for anyone to be cautious but not Samson. After her third trial Delilah flipped the script and told him if you love me you would tell me the truth - she appealed to his feelings and he ignored the fact that Delilah was no good for him.
Feelings make us human but when we let our feelings override the truth/fact it can make us weak and hurt us.
Never trust your feelings or emotions else they mislead you.

2. Samson willfully lived carelessly and abused God's mercy that he didn't know when God left him - Judges 16:20b says "but he did not know that the Lord had left him". This means we can get so lost in sin while singing about grace till God decides to just leave us and that's what Apostle Paul calls a reprobate mind.
So all may still seem normal as it was with Samson but with time the consequences of our actions will start showing.

3.Samson made Delilah an Idol by giving her greater priority than he gave to God. His desire for Delilah was deeper than his devotion to God.
Samson didn't worship God and never thanked God even all the times he defeated the Philistines. Instead he spent more time chasing women, little wonder he didn't know when God left him - he never truly desired God and his desires (women) brought about his downfall.

In summary, Samson was captured, imprisoned and his eyes were plucked out. The strongest man died with the Philistines - the same people he was supposed to deliver Israel from.
He never fulfilled his purpose because he got distracted and Israel were once again back to being in bondage.

Now you see why I would never understand why parents name their sons Samson and why I would never name my child after him - he abused love and is an example of how our weakness can overpower our strength, causing us and those dependent on us harm.