Many of us know the saying, "Never judge a book by its cover." Which is to say, "Don't judge someone by their appearance or by first impressions." I have to say though, that if I am looking through a stack of books and come across one with a scantily dressed woman clinging to the leg of a scantily dressed man with long flowing hair, I am going to keep moving on. The cover told me plenty about what was inside the book. Could I be wrong? I may be wrong about what wound up actually being inside the book but I wouldn't be wrong about the author's or publisher's values for choosing that cover in order to draw in people's attention.
What I am about to say now is going to make some people mad and probably make them think I am elitist.
The same principle can be applied to people.
If I see a scantily dressed girl with her hand in her boyfriends back pocket, and he can't seem to keep his hands off of her, right away I know something about these two people. They are shameless in their public displays of affection, the girl believes she can dress however she wants and if a guy lusts after her that's his fault, (although she probably dressed that way with her boyfriend in mind and is displaying the fruit of her efforts), and the boy has pretty much got one thing on his mind and it isn't about mowing his elderly neighbor's yard.
Does this mean that they aren't nice people? No. Does it mean that the boy doesn't ever mow his elderly neighbor's yard? No. However, it does say something about a few of their morals. Then I have to ask myself, "Is this a book I want my children reading?" No.
Does that make me elitist? It would only make me so if I believed I was any better than they were. I am not. I have many, many failings. If I want to overcome those failings or if I want my children to overcome their own, I am not going to put myself or my children in the paths of books or people that will not raise us up or edify the Lord.
As a closing thought, why is it always the same people who holler that you can't judge a book by it's cover who adamantly declare that they believe in love at first sight? |
Feb. 17, 2008
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Feb. 18, 2008
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I couldn't agree more.
I know the Bible says "judge not, lest you be judged" and other similar things. However, I also think that we need to have our guard up to some degree. Some people you can look at and just tell that they will not make suitable friends for your children (or yourself, for that matter).
Anyway, I won't get into that......
Heidi