The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 19 August 2025: Evil Communication Corrupts
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TOPIC: Evil Communication Corrupts
READ: 2 Samuel 13:1-10 (NKJV)
- After this Absalom the son of David had a lovely sister, whose name [was] Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.
- Amnon was so distressed over his sister Tamar that he became sick; for she [was] a virgin. And it was improper for Amnon to do anything to her.
- But Amnon had a friend whose name [was] Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Now Jonadab [was] a very crafty man.
- And he said to him, “Why [are] you, the king’s son, becoming thinner day after day? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
- So Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me food, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see [it] and eat it from her hand.’ “
- Then Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let Tamar my sister come and make a couple of cakes for me in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.”
- And David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Now go to your brother Amnon’s house, and prepare food for him.”
- So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house; and he was lying down. Then she took flour and kneaded [it,] made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes.
- And she took the pan and placed [them] out before him, but he refused to eat. Then Amnon said, “Have everyone go out from me.” And they all went out from him.
- Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, that I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought [them] to Amnon her brother in the bedroom.
THE MESSAGE:
Amnon the son of David lusted after his half-sister, Tamar. This affected his countenance and behaviour to the notice of his cousin and friend, Jonadab. Amnon confided in him but got a destructive counsel that eventually took his life. What every reasonable friend will do at that time would be to counsel Amnon and help him deal with his weakness in the right manner, but that was not the case with Jonadab.
Psalm 1 sees someone who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly as a blessed man. Amnon went ahead to rape Tamar as advised, but sowed an evil seed. We all have our weaknesses as humans, and can only overcome them by God’s grace. This grace of God manifests through godly and wise counsel. Hence, we must be very careful to choose who we go to for advice. The materials we expose ourselves to also influence the behaviour we eventually manifest. We must distance ourselves from evil counselors, because evil communication corrupts. The greatest counselor is the Holy Spirit through God’s word.
Whenever we feel a push to do evil, let’s depend on His grace and strength to overcome. But if we must discuss with someone, let it be one who knows and understands God’s word.
PRAYER: Deliver me, Lord, from evil counselors in Jesus’ name, Amen!
