Lovesick by Guest Blogger – Chris Jones
Scripture: Read Judges 13-16
With Valentine’s day only 4 days away, love is in the air. Everywhere you turn there are chocolates and flowers. Shelves are stocked with sappy romantic cards filled with poetry. Whether you are in a relationship or wishing that you were, this time of year is easy to feel lovesick.There’s something pretty amazing about being in love, isn’t there? The butterflies in your stomach. The dreamy gazes. No wonder so many of us are so in love with being in love.
Growing up, I was a typical young boy. My wardrobe consisted of sweatpants, t-shirts, and sneakers.I couldn’t care less about how my hair looked or even what I smelled like. All I could talk about was sports and video games. I hung out with my boys, mostly because I still thought girls had cooties. Then it happened! Seventh grade started and so did my attraction to girls. In my attempt to impress the ladies, I went through an extreme makeover. I bought an all new wardrobe consisting of jeans, polos, and button up shirts. I went from being 12 to an 18 year old over night. I’d wake up extra early before school so I could groom myself for the day. I would glob two handfuls of gel on my head and carefully style my hair until it was perfect. Then I’d douse myself with Calvin Klein Obsession cologne. I began to dress and look preppy. I attempted to be a cross between Zack Morris, from Saved by the Bell, and Leonardo DiCaprio. All of this because I was lovesick! I wasn’t interested in a particular girl, just all of them in general. I was in love with the idea of being in love.
I did what many of us do. Our culture has taken two basic inventions of God—human relationships and opposite-sex attraction—and twisted them beyond measure. We’ve gone from valuing to overvaluing relationships. And putting too much value on something is just as dangerous as not putting enough value on it. In my attempts to impress girls and satisfy my feelings of being lovesick, I lost the perspective of who I was and who God created me to be. My sense of worth was directly related to my relational status.
In the Bible, in the Old Testament, if you go way, way back in the history of the Israelite people, after the time when Moses led them through the wilderness and Joshua brought them into the Promised Land, but before the time when kings like David and Solomon governed, there was a time period we call the judges. It was called this because basically the Israelites were living in little groups, or clans, and they had leaders, called judges, who helped keep everything running smoothly.
One of those Judges was a man named Samson. He was called and anointed by God for a specific purpose.
you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines” (Judges 13:2-5 NIV).
Samson was created and set apart to God for the deliverance of His people. As we read on in chapters 13-16 of Judges, we learn of Samson’s greatest weakness-women. How many of you can relate? He struggled with feelings of being lovesick, and as a result he couldn’t control his urge to merge.
Although Samson is a member of the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11:32) and was used by God again at the end of his life, his poor relational decisions left him with severe consequences. They cost him his anointing, his eyes, and ultimately his life. Samson lost sight of who he was and who God created him to be.
You don’t have to be in a relationship to become lovesick or lose sight of who you are. It’s not that relationships are wrong, but when the idea of a romantic relationship or you being in one starts to define who you are as an individual, then things start getting dangerous.
Are you lovesick? Be brave enough to ask your friends, “Am I too into this relationship? Do I talk about dating way too much?” Don’t get so caught up in it all that you lose sight of who you are and who God made you to be.
