I was recently enjoying my weekly phone call with my friend, Pastor Glenn Holderread. He mentioned that he had been meditating on Matthew 7:6. He said, it reminded him of a time when he refused to enable a drug addict to continue in his sin by giving him the money the man asked for. Pastor Glenn said he recently found out that this man had gone to a rehab center. It changed his life and now, two years later, he was a productive citizen in God’s kingdom. In Matthew 7:6 (NKJV) it says, “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.”
It is easy to quote Matthew 7:6 as justification for the attitudes that harden our hearts and thus, our actions. Moments after Pastor Glenn read this verse to me on the phone, God said to my heart, “Look for the grace and lovingkindness in your refusal. It might just be the open door to somebody’s freedom.” I realized God was saying that refusal to agree with sin, when done for the right reasons, is a demonstration of righteousness and grace, but also of lovingkindness. Think about this. When you do what is right for the wrong reasons, it may not really be right unless it is done with righteousness, grace and lovingkindness working together. Now that is worth meditating on.
Here are a couple questions worth a few more moments of your time. When you consider someone’s request for help, do you make your decision based solely on what is convenient or easy? How do righteousness, grace and lovingkindness influence your decision? Oh, one more thing before you answer – Be sure your answer includes the lessons of Psalm 103. It says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul…, {4} Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,”
Dogs, Swine and Lovingkindness