How to Protect Your Sight

Samson hung his head. It had taken blindness and captivity to open his spiritual eyes. He grimaced when he remembered how his mother’s eyes shone every time she told the story of the angel’s visit predicting his birth. “The Lord Himself has chosen you to be His special servant to rescue Israel from the Philistines,” she said.

How much do you value your vision? Is it worth guarding?

I thought of Samson while reading 1 John recently. God anointed Samson with supernatural strength to deliver Israel (Judges 13:1-15:20). But Samson squandered his gift on vengeance and pleasure. His choices led to blindness and slavery. 1 John warns that hatred blinds the one who hates.

A Gruesome Example

Samson fell in love with a Philistine named Delilah. Delilah manipulated Samson into revealing the secret of his strength. She then sold him to Philistine lords who bound him and gouged out his eyes. Imprisoned Samson was forced to grind grain for his enemy.

Having witnessed a cat lose an eye, I can imagine blind Samson. His empty eye sockets provide a jarring picture of the consequences of sin.

1 John says, “But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness” (1 John 2:11 NLT).

Hate blinds the hater. See 1 Jn. 2:11. Click To Tweet

Hate blinds the hater. Without sight, a person stumbles, falls, and bumps into others. He can’t see what’s right in front of him.

Those who hate won’t be bothered with facts. “What is truth?” they say, in order to deflect facts that might calm their inflamed passions.

We do this when someone offends us. In a perverted sense, it feels good to nurse an injury and replay how wrong our offender was.

Precious Sight

1 John says that while hate blinds, love turns on the light. When we take our injuries to God and ask Him to help us forgive, light returns. One woman said, “After forgiving my offender lightness returned. How could I have ever thought that holding on to bitterness felt good?”

It is only fair to let offenses go since Jesus died not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world—including the ones committed against us (1 Jn. 2:2). Since Jesus already suffered for the wrongs done to us we don’t have to keep holding on to them.

It’s more destructive to hate than to be hated. #love, #forgive Click To Tweet

Turn on the Light

  • Protect your vision by asking God to reveal any root of bitterness or hatred that may be hidden in your heart.
  • With God’s help, forgive each person whose name comes to mind.
  • Thank God for setting you free from bitterness and blindness.
  • To learn more about forgiveness click here.

May we learn from Samson’s mistakes before we suffer or cause harm.

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Blessings,

Debbie Wilson

Debbie W. Wilson

Photos by Tony Rojas on Unsplash and Paz Arando on Unsplash

Sometimes I link up with these great sites:

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14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. Martha

    Just came through a horrific ordeal and had to ask God to forgive me for allowing bitterness and hatred because of an offense. Am so grateful for the Word! And this read just put it into even a better perspective for me. Just because we are born again, saved and on our way to heaven doesn’t mean we won’t have challenges throughout our journey. Thanks for the devotional today!

    • Debbie Wilson

      Martha, forgiving someone who has wronged us is often hard. But knowing the consequences of not forgiving is a powerful motivation to let go. Thank you for sharing your recent story.

  2. Ann Musico

    Debbie this is such a very important and relevant post for our world today. People seem unable and unwilling to listen to an opinion different than their own and slip into hatred and blindness! It’s sad to say the least and extremely alarming. But the truth you shared could make such a difference if people would see it.

    • Debbie Wilson

      Ann, I’m always amazed at how relevant God’s Word is! It certainly does speak to our culture as well as us as individuals. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts.

  3. Jacqueline Wallace

    So good, again, Debbie. Thank you for your insights.

    • Debbie Wilson

      Thank you, Jacque! Have a wonderful week.

  4. Beth

    So true, Debbie. I’ve let hate grip my heart before–making me blind to what really matters–and I never want to return to that again. I can relate to the woman you mentioned who felt as if the light came on after forgiving and letting go of her bitterness. Thanks so much for sharing this important message. It’s so nice to see you again–back from your beautiful trip! I’ve seen some of your pics on Instagram, so I look forward to hearing about it here sometime soon!

    • Debbie Wilson

      Thanks, Beth. God granted us beautiful weather and a wonderful time.

  5. Lisa notes

    What an important topic, Debbie. It’s so easy to stay in the dark on “our” side of an issue instead of shining a light on the complete truth. Thanks for the encouragement to guard our sight.

    • Debbie Wilson

      Lisa, you are right. When we want to justify our emotions we don’t want to be bothered with the whole truth. Thanks for your thoughts.

  6. Meghan

    As I was reading, I read this in a new way where the results of vengeance and only using gifts for pleasure can lead to spiritual blindness (being self deceived thinking we are ok?) and slavery to those things which drive us if not careful.

    Wow, God’s word is alive and active for sure. I love how he is always revealing truths if we seek him. Thank you for sharing this today!

    Visiting from FreshMarketFriday~

    • Debbie Wilson

      Meghan, I love how you summed it up. And God’s word is certainly alive today.

  7. Sarah Koontz

    Bitterness is so dangerous. Thank you for this important reminder!

    • Debbie Wilson

      Sarah, it’s always good to hear from you.

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