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Dogs?

              “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” (Matthew 7:6)

             Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. (Proverbs 26:4-5)

 

            Dogs? Pigs? I don’t think Jesus was being racist here, but He was calling on those who listened to Him to judge – in what was probably the paragraph after telling us not to judge! Was He being hypocritical, after scolding hypocrites?

            He was calling us to use our judgment or discernment, and in a way that is entirely relevant today. Dogs and pigs have no appreciation for what we consider precious. They have their own value system and must be taught ours. I have yet to have a dog that didn’t destroy something: books, clothing, carpets, tile floors, and woodwork. I have no experience with pigs, but from what little I’ve heard, they have no need for pearls.

            But, let someone make a comment on-line that doesn’t make sense, or that I believe wrong, and I feel obligated to respond. And they usually don’t appreciate what I’m telling them. Or consider the notion of exposing children to the smorgasbord of sexual and sexualized information available. Most children lack the capacity to discern what is good, evil, right, wrong, correct, error, or deception. There are people who will attack us for sharing our treasured truth. We need to learn who they are. There are times when our words will sail unheard past the one we wish to help. There are circumstances in which trying to explain will irritate rather than illuminate. We need to learn to recognize to whom, when, and how to speak.

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