Monday, September 10, 2012

Pig Jewelry and Silly Women- Proverbs 11:22

Occasionally I come to a verse in my pre-determined list of VOW suggestions from people that my first inclination is to skip over it. Today was one of those days for a couple of reasons: 1. I feel like this one narrows my reading audience by about half as far as application goes. 2. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna rile a few feathers as a guy talking about a comparison of beautiful women to pigs with bling.

On the other hand, I've thought several times that maybe girls would hear modesty talks (FYI- that's not all this verse is talking about, but I'm sure it's included) with more open ears if they heard it from the perspective of a guy who is typically both the reason for and thevictim of immodesty at the same time. So...here we go. And guys, keep reading anyway, because when it comes down to it, this applies to you to.

First of all, why in the world put a ring in a pig's nose? Because I am pretty ignorant in the ways of pig farming, I had to look that one up. You may already know, but I'll share what I've learned from the scholarly source of Wikipedia:) anyway.

Pigs dig or "root" with their snouts, and such digging may be undesirable in some circumstances. Nose rings make digging uncomfortable for the animal, although a rung pig is still able to forage freely through leaf litter and surface vegetation. Pig ringing may sometimes be required by local regulations, as when pigs are turned out for pannage in public woods

So there we have it. It's not that there is absolutely no reason to put a ring in a pig's snout; it's that
YOU SURE DON'T WANT TO WASTE THE BEAUTY AND VALUE OF GOLD ON A
PIG-ROOTING PREVENTION METHOD!
What a colossal waste of something so precious! Wikipedia goes on to say that usually copper rings are used and I assume in Solomon's day they also used some similar metal that did not have much value other than its usefulness for mingling with pig snot!
What's the point?
Girls and women who show a lack of discretion in their words, their extravagances, their wardrobe and how it affects men, their civility toward other girls and their civility toward guys...Girls and women who show a lack of restraint in their advances toward the opposite sex, who play the "ditsy girl" card to get attention from boys even if it is negative attention, girls who do not make good choices in who they become emotionally intimate (I'm not even talking about differing levels of physical intimacy, but that is a conversation in and of itself!) with in dating relationships....
THESE GIRLS AND WOMEN ARE WASTING THEIR GOD-GIVEN BEAUTY IN ALL OF THEIR GRACE, CHARM, AND LOVELINESS, AND THEY ARE WASTING THEIR INCREDIBLE VALUE AS PERFECTLY DESIGNED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOD WHOSE IMAGE THEY BEAR !
Ladies you have so much to offer to each other because of your God-given abilities to think before you act (unlike boys), to have uncanny abilities to sniff out impostors with your "woman's intuition" (unlike boys), to show compassion and gentleness (unlike boys before Christ!), and so many other things that only you can do! Please don't waste all of those beautiful things and shove them into the pig's snout of crude talk, impulsive shopping, clothing that is designed to make boys drool, and "dumbing down" your intellect for attention!
Lest I spend all of my time on the ladies, gentlemen, here is where you come into this proverb. Stop asking the ladies in your life to do this by letting Satan distract you by counterfeit "prettiness" and start showing appreciation for the real and lasting beauty of a true woman of God. We all know the type of woman we want to marry. What makes us think she is still going to be around if we give our attention today to the girls that are simply fun to be amused with by their looks or "dumbed down" flattery and flirtations that they give in exchange for companionship and security? Girls I hope you hear this loud and clear: if you do win over the man of your dreams by pretending to be someone you are not or by flaunting beauty that is supposed to be saved for your husband whether that means parading it simply through visibility or through physicality, ONE OR BOTH OF YOU ARE GOING TO BE MISERABLE IN YOUR MARRIAGE! You will have to keep pretending to be someon you are not. Or he will have to find out that he did not marry a wild child like he thought he was and will therefore be tempted to look elsewhere. Guys, hear this loud and clear: if you keep looking for and at girls today based solely on the physical pleasure that they can bring your, YOU WILL BE MISERABLE YOUR WHOLE LIFE! because you will train your taste buds to only be satisfied by food that brings absolutely no nourishment to your soul.
Parents, what are you actively doing to instill in your daughter a true sense of self-worth and understanding of who they are in God's eyes? That knowledge will allow them to realize the absurdity of sticking their gold in a pig's snout. Wouldn't you rather have fewer fights about what they can and can't wear and more conversations about how beautiful they are and ways to let their true beauty shine for all the world to see?
What are you actively doing to help your son see the real beauty of a lady as opposed to the cheap imitation of beauty that Satan parades in front of us so often? If they are exposed to the counterfeit too often, it will be harder and harder for them to distinguish and appreciate the real thing when they finally do see it. Wouldn't it be easier to fight the battle of limiting Internet access and denying smart phones to your son today than to see their marriages fall apart years down the road due to a pornography addiction that began in middle school or before?

We need to stop overlooking gold in pig noses simply because we've gotten used to seeing that strange phenomenon. I don't care how many pig's have gold in their noses. It's dumb. And a woman who lacks discretion is just as silly as shoving 14kt gold into the nose of an animal that is smelly, dirty, and really only good for two things: garbage disposal and bacon.

Click the comment button below to start the conversation:
  • What are some ways you've been helped in the past to realize the truth and value in this proverb?
  • What are some practical ways we can help our children learn the value of this proverb?

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