Pearls, Hogs, & A Locker Room--A Valuable Lesson

Why would You Cast Those Pearls Before Those Hogs?

I'm teaching a Marriage and Family class at Pacific Islands University.  Part of what we are working on is getting started well--mate selection.  I've been spending a great deal of time with my past. I'm using the story of how Kathy and I got together as a discussion starter for the class.  I was reminded of an incident that happened to me fairly early in our relationship, while we were still in high school. I was on the wrestling team at Bremen High School, so in the winter the end of my school day was spent in a locker room showering and getting ready to go home.  I don't remember how the subject came up, but I began to talk to some of my fellow wrestlers about Kathy.  She was a favorite subject of of conversation.  My friends on the team weren't particularly bad guys, just average American boys.  Soon, however, I became concerned about the conversation.  Anything, and I meananything, I said about Kathy was instantly distorted and turned into something dirty. Did I love Kathy at the time?  We'll save that argument for another day.  While my feelings for her and more importantly my commitment to her and to God concerning her, had not yet matured, I did cherish her.  I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that I didn't want to do anything that would cause her name to be associated with the kind of conversation that I heard coming from my friend's lips or saw in the smirks on their faces.  I decided that I would never talk of Kathy again in that context.  As far as I remember, I never did, again. That locker room commitment was the first of many.  Jesus tells of His goal for His bride in Ephesians 5:26-27.  He wants to "sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless." Guys, we are to follow that example.  We are to not only protect our wives, but cherish them, and keep  their name from being sullied.  I  learned that when I was still practicing.  Now, almost fifty years later, I see way to many guys who failed to learn that lesson.  They have never grown past the mentality of my foul-mouthed, leering high-school comrades. Hogs don't know how to deal with pearls. It's STTA.