Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 13:1-17
“Then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, ‘Arise, be gone!’”—2 Samuel 13:15
Buyer’s remorse, that sense of regret after having made a purchase, is the result of a number of factors, to include making a purchase impulsively, for the wrong reason, through unethical means, or without considering the full cost of the purchase. Afterward, the buyer finds that the transaction does not live up to the expectations of joy anticipated prior to the purchase. The buyer often laments the purchase wasn’t all they expected it to be. The same emotional rollercoaster ride of buyer’s remorse is found in many decisions we make in life.
King David’s son Amnon loved and desired his half-sister Tamar. She had become the object of his desire to the point he was lovesick. Applying counsel from a friend, Amnon feinted illness to get Tamar alone where despite her pleas and reasoning, he raped her. Once the act was done, Amnon despised her with a hatred greater than his “love” for her.
Amnon committed this heinous act in the same spirit as buyer’s remorse, but what we will call, “sinner’s remorse.” The symptoms are the same: Actions stemming from impulsive behavior, committed for the wrong reason, and employed through unethical means. Amnon was deceived by his personal desires and confused lust for love, resulting in him discovering what he sought and achieved was not what he expected. The full cost of Amnon’s actions certainly were more than he bargained for. It took two years but Tamar’s brother, Absalom exacted revenge for his sister’s rape by having Amnon assassinated (2 Samuel 13:22-29).
Self-centered pursuits designed to fulfill our personal gratification without the benefit of careful prayer and thought often result in us getting what we want but finding we will not want it once we have it. We can devote ourselves to achieving what we think is the single thing we cannot live without or the thing we think will make our lives complete—a person, an object, an experience—only to find it wasn’t all we expected. In the end, we have allowed our personal desires to convince us to devote ourselves to something that was never about true satisfaction, only our distraction from what really satisfies.
Question to Ponder: You can get what you want but will you want it once you have it?
“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”—James 1:14-15
