I gave you my best and you just walked all over me!?!
Man o man, haven’t we all been here at least once in our lives? It truly hurts my heart to see people give something so precious only for it to be unappreciated. I don’t think that we consciously decide to give our best to someone who doesn’t care. But somewhere along the way, we forget to check out who is on the receiving end.
It seems like more and more I am hearing stories about broken hearts and unmet expectations. Both women and men giving their very best in relationships only for it not to be appreciated or reciprocated. Instead of returning all of the special effort, they just take and take with so much as an empty thank you… if you get one at all. Or how about that job. Yeah, the job. You spend more of your time at work than you do anywhere else, give your very best and more, only to have more work piled on your desk and told that you need to do more! You start to feel like, maybe I’m just not good enough. Maybe I’m not pretty enough or handsome enough, smart enough, fast enough. Maybe, my best isn’t enough. Enough! YOU ARE ENOUGH!
YOU ARE ENOUGH!
As I thought about this, in my life and in the lives of others, I was reminded of a scripture. “Don’t give holy things to dogs, and don’t throw your pearls in front of pigs. They will stomp on the pearls, then turn around and attack you.” -Matthew 7:6 CEB
Just before this verse, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was instructing the crowd about judging others and not to be a hypocrite. ‘First get rid of the log in our own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye’ (Matthew 7:5). But then, Jesus shows us the difference between judgement and discernment (spiritual direction and understanding). The very next thing He says is, “Don’t give holy things to dogs, and don’t throw your pearls in front of pigs. They will stomp on the pearls, then turn around and attack you.” He uses dogs and pigs to describe people who will mock and dismiss the Word of God.
Even though there will be people who will mock and dismiss the Word, doesn’t mean we should stop telling it. If they don’t receive what you have to say, leave…and shake the dust off (Matthew 10:14). Move on. We are held accountable for sharing the Word; they are held accountable to how they respond.
In that same way, we should still be prepared to share our best… Be loving and kind, funny, caring, thoughtful etc. Be you. And use discernment when looking at who is on the receiving end. And if they mock you and show you who they are…MOVE ON. You cannot make someone accept your best. A pig cannot appreciate a pearl.
A pig cannot appreciate a pearl.
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