Don’t Cast Your Pearls Before Swine

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them. under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Matthew 7:6

How many of us have been in this situation of giving our pearls to swine? Me included. For me it has mostly come in the form of toxic romantic relationships and friendships with toxic people.

What’s so important about Matthew 7:6 is that it shows us that we need to treat ourselves with value. That we hold ourselves in such high regard that we do not allow others to take advantage of us and use us when we generously give of ourselves to other people.

When we give our love to another person who doesn’t see our heart for the amazing and beautiful gift it is, but instead they trample on it.

When we give time or support to friends that don’t appreciate the generosity or give anything back in equal measure.

When we give our precious gifts, our pearls to those who only step on them and trample them in the mud under their dirty hooves.

When we willingly ignore red flags about people and continue to give to them when we know full well we are being used and we are feeding a bottomless pit that will never appreciate us for who we are.

When we do any of these things, it is a sign that we need to learn to love and value ourselves.

Matthew 7:6 is a good lesson in helping us to understand that we must treat ourselves with respect and never give ourselves to those who will step on us; those who will turn around and without remorse bite the generous hand that feeds them. The person that freely gives them love, the person that freely gives them support.

All of us have an internal compass in regards to people. We all know deep down inside if the people or situations we are giving to are ‘swine’, or ‘dogs’. Self love and self respect involve listening to our intuition and having the courage to back out of any situations, or back away from any people who don’t appreciate us. To stop giving to toxic people and situations that never give back, but only continue to feed on our precious gifts like leeches until we decide to no longer do this.