With its blend of love, sex, violence, and treachery, the story of Samson's downfall at Delilah's hands is one of the Bible's best-known stories. Yet it is not unique: countless Christians have lost their spiritual strength for exactly the same reasons.

Samson did not fail because the temptation was too strong or inescapable. He failed because he toyed and trifled with sin, even seeking it out in Gaza, a stronghold of the Philistines (Judges 16:1), where he deliberately exposed himself to the enemy. His carnal self-confidence, an immature belief in his invincibility, made him pliable dough in the hands of Delilah. Overconfidence in self blinds us to reality (see Proverbs 16:18; 1 Corinthians 10:12). Three important principles about temptation, as represented in Delilah, lie at the heart of why we succumb:

One, moral compromise always makes us vulnerable. If Samson had not had a sinful relationship with Delilah-there is no suggestion that they were married-he would never have been open to this temptation. In our lives, the compromise is often more subtle. It lies in the material we read, the programs we watch, and the values we accept. We do not fall off a cliff morally; we go down a slope, speeding up until we cannot stop. That is why personal purity is such a crucial issue. To compromise, even in our thoughts, makes us vulnerable.

Two, temptation comes to us in attractive packages. Delilah was a beautiful, attractive woman. When sin comes, it will not come as something ugly and destructive, but as something that presents itself as desirable, good, and fulfilling.

Three, temptation comes when we choose the wrong company. Samson's choice of the wrong kind of girls-the Philistine woman from Timnah, the prostitute from Gaza, and Delilah-helped to destroy his character. God is not calling us to an isolationism that retreats into a holy huddle. But we need to look carefully at our friendships to discover whether those associations are drawing us away from Jesus (see 1 Corinthians 15:33). Some of us will never grow up in Christ until we break off those relationships that are dragging us down.

When we toy with temptation, it traps us. The New Testament does not ask us to fight this kind of temptation; it tells us to run away from it (1 Corinthians 6:18; 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22).

There may be things in our lives that we need to deal with, or major areas that need to be changed if we are going to preserve our character. It could include our lifestyles, leisure activities, or even our jobs. Temptation is a constant part of the Christian life. Fleeing is hard, but it is essential.