Tuesday 27 Jun 2023

June 27: Matthew 7:6-14

Key Verse: Matthew 7:6
‘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.

Devotion:
This is one of the places in our bibles where people get confused because they think they are being told to do one thing and then do the opposite – but all it takes is a bit of careful reading to find out this is not true. When people face me with arguments about the bible contradicting itself I fear they have not read it properly.

This passage is just after Jesus told the disciples they should not try to find a speck in someone else’s eye when they have a plank in their own eye – obviously metaphorical because I don’t think I can fit a match-stick in my eye, never mind a plank! The idea is we should make sure we are following God’s will before we try to tell other people they are not following His will!

But, on the flip side of that, we should and must be discerning about things. If we see someone seems to have a fault, then we must consider our own lives to make sure we are not falling into the same temptations albeit in a slightly different guise! We must deal with our own issues before we try to deal with other’s issues… Once we have dealt with the issue in our own lives we can both see the problem more clearly and, hopefully, suggest a solution based on what we have done.

But what if they are clearly not going to be willing to do what you have done in order to sort things out yourself? Well, this is where this verse comes in – if it is clear the other person is not going to accept they are wrong or be willing to change things, then should we waste our time and effort trying to change things? Yes we should suggest changes, but not dwell on it when those suggestions continue to fall on deaf ears!

Points to Ponder:
Do you try to help others?

Obeying God means you are qualified to help others!