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

This is a phrase that is often quoted and I thought it would be good for us to look at it in proper context and see what Jesus is saying here.

The verses before this one (Matthew 7:1-5) talk about judging someone. They tell us not to judge because whatever measure we judge someone with will be used on us. Jesus goes on to say that we should remove the log from our eye before we try to take the speck out of our brother’s eye. He then says not to give what is holy to dogs and not to cast or throw your pearls before swine lest they trample them and turn on you and tear you to pieces. He gives a pretty vivid picture of what can be expected if we cast our pearls before swine, but what does this really mean?

Well, I looked at three different commentaries, and I got three different but similar answers.

One thing each commentary agreed on was when Jesus said taking what was holy, He was referring to anything that is sanctified and set apart for the Lord. For example, a priest would never take meat meant for an offering off the altar and give it to a dog.

I think many times we are handling things that are holy without even realizing it, or at least I know there have been times in my life when this was the case for me. Our bodies are holy. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body.

When we accept Christ as our Savior, He comes to live inside of us. Our hearts are filled with His Holy Spirit. Our bodies become the temple or the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. When we misuse our temple, we are giving what is holy to the dogs. We can do this through sexual immorality, consumption of alcohol or drugs, and even over-indulging in food. We should be taking good care of the temple of the Holy Spirit.

The gospel is also holy. We must be careful in how we handle the gospel. We should never water it down. We should share it truthfully without shame.

When Jesus talks about casting our pearls before swine, we all know that throwing a string of pearls to a pig would be a stupid thing to do, right? But we must also be wise and discerning when we share the gospel. We are commanded to carry the gospel to every individual, but we must not cheapen it to suit that person’s beliefs. We also must pray for God to give us the wisdom and discernment to move on when they reject the gospel.

Because I can tell you from personal experience that there will be those with whom you try to share the gospel who will treat it just like a pig treats those pearls. They will twist it and try to turn it against you. They will turn against you, falsely accuse you and literally tear you to pieces.

So, just after Jesus tells us not to judge others while we have a log in our eye or while we have our own issues we are dealing with. He turns around and tells us we must use wisdom and discernment when dealing with others. As our former pastor said, “We are not to judge, but we must inspect the fruit.” 1Thessalonians 5:22 says to avoid all evil and we must be able to know when someone is evil.

We are told in James 3:17 that the wisdom from above is pure, then peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, and good fruits without doubting and without hypocrisy.

Use God-given wisdom to guide you in how to handle what is holy like your body, your mouth, your mind and the gospel. This will keep you from throwing what is holy to the dogs and casting your pearls before the swine.

Have a great day!