Are You Jesus to Them?
Judges 16 NIV
Delilah was a beautiful woman, and she knew it. She also knew that her beauty was powerful. And she knew that power could get her what she wanted. What she wanted was money. So she used the power of her beauty to get the money she wanted. The secondary, devastating effect was that she destroyed Samson and her own people in the process. Through her greed, Samson turned away from God's purpose for his life. Through her greed, 3,000 people died. Through her greed, the liberation of Israel from Philistine domination was begun. Delilah, about whom we hear nothing else throughout scripture, left a trail of pain and destruction behind her.
Not much of a legacy, is it? No, but you and I can learn a valuable lesson from Delilah. A lesson about how we affect the lives of those around us. Instead of building Samson up, she destroyed him. Instead of putting him first, she put her own selfish desires first.
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Every day, you and I are involved in all sorts of relationships, some casual, some close. Our assignment from Jesus is to be His representative in all of our relationships. to be "Jesus" to each and every person we encounter. each and every day. We should build up, not tear down. We should be an encouragement, not a hindrance.
This pretty effectively eliminates griping, complaining, belly-aching, cursing, arguing, gossiping, ridiculing, criticizing and manipulating. That eliminates putting our own needs and desires first. That eliminates greed, hate and revenge. In other words, that eliminates doing what comes naturally.
Instead it means we are to be kind, patient, tolerant, loving, encouraging, truthful, gentle, trusting, hopeful, persistent, humble and selfless. It means we are to put the needs of others before our own, demonstrating the love of Jesus to all those around us. In other words, we are to be Jesus to them. Pretty tough assignment, isn't it? Yes, it is. if we try to do it on our own. In fact - on our own - it's virtually impossible. But when we surrender our will to Jesus. when we allow Him to work through us. then it becomes easy... because He's doing all the work.
Take a look at how you deal with others... Are you Delilah or are you Jesus to your friends and family and co-workers?
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