Dogs, Pigs, and Pearls

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” - Matthew 7:6

Have you ever experienced being rejected because you just wanted to help someone who’s misled by wrong teachings? I know the feeling and if you do, too, you know it sucks. Makes you think, “what the heck? I was just trying to help!”

As part of my daily reflection, I turned to God’s Word for some guidance: the Holy Bible. And I read this verse in one of the chapters of the book of Matthew.

The meaning of this Bible verse is quite simple: “Do not persist in offering what is sacred or of value to those who have no appreciation for it, because your gift will not only become contaminated and be despised, your generous efforts could also be rebuffed and perhaps even openly attacked.” [http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-matthew-7-6.htm]

The “pearls” are God’s Word, the gospel, as well as our God-given gifts and experiences, and they have great value to Him. They are His; and all these that He possess, we must know how to make use of. I had to learn this lesson the hard way, because I had experienced sharing these pearls and reaching out to people with compassion and truthfulness, yet all I got was despise and a cold shoulder.

The Scripture does not lie. It is God’s Word, and His Word is faithful even after the end of time. And the Scripture said it’s our duty to love each other and reach out to those in need with compassion. But how will we know when to share our pearls and when not to?

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore, be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves.” – Matthew 10:16

We need to have wisdom and discernment. And only God can give us that. And as much as I want to give these pearls to each and every person I know, I’d rather not. Because God will hold me accountable for it if I make a mistake.

Now I understand why the more Biblically educated people I meet have this reluctance of sharing what they know about the Bible, even to me (I had to suppress a chuckle), because they try to discern whether or not I was WORTHY of receiving their pearls. Most of the time, they don’t share. So I created my own pearls through prayer and a close and faithful study of His Word.

Many of you will ask, “why should we even care about knowing everything about God’s Word? We believe in God, we pray to God, we put our trust in Him, we even go to church!”

My friends, the answer is simple. And once again, it can be found in the Bible:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 7:22

I just want to get there.

How about you?

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An excerpt from http://www.bereanbiblechurch.org:

Matthew 7:6 (NKJV) “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

This verse gives balance to the first five verses and shows that believers are to be discriminating people…Jesus says that He wants us to identify some people as dogs, and some people as hogs. Then He tells us not to give to them what is holy. It is impossible to follow that command without rendering a judgment.

If I do not know what a dog is or what a swine is, how am I going to obey this verse? It is obvious from this context, and from other passages of Scripture, that Jesus is talking about people when he refers to dogs and swine…by using such a description, Jesus is talking about people who are unfit to have the truth of God presented to them. If you give the truth of God to some people, they demonstrate that they are unfit for it because they blaspheme it, ridicule it, and trample it underfoot. By giving such people the truth of God, we are holding out the truth for abuse.

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