Read 2 Samuel 13 – 15
Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone. 2 Samuel 13:15 KJV
Amnon, the first-born of David, had a half-sister named Tamar; she was beautiful and Ammon longed for her. 13:1 says he loved her, but as the events unfold his loved proved to be the worst kind; it was lustful love. True love thinks in behalf of the other person and acts for their good. Lustful love thinks in behalf of self and acts for personal pleasure. Lustful love will always hurt the one professed to be loved. Though Tamar verbally and physically protested his advances, Amnon, being stronger, forced himself on her, he raped her. Afterward, the cruelest twist of lust occurred; he hated her more than he previously professed to love her. Fact is he never loved her; he always hated her because she was something he couldn’t have. As a result he abused her, first in lusting over her (treating her as an object), second in raping her, and third in blaming her for his selfish actions.
Lord, although this problem has been around for so long, we haven’t learned much. Lustful love continues as a major problem in our society, and too often we still blame the victims. Help me, help us know and understand how abusive lustful love truly is.
