Each week, I’ll share personal reflections from my own time with God, our Heavenly Father. On a Personal Note is where I’ll highlight takeaways and implications for walking with the Lord.
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Colossians 4:6
If you flip over a package and read the ingredients, you’ll find sodium. If you looked in most kitchens, you’d find some form of salt. From table salt, sea salt, and even pink salt, it’s everywhere. So when reading Colossians, it is easy to skip right over the “seasoned with salt.” If you look a little deeper, there are gems to be mined from this phrase.
Within the Bible, salt had multiple uses and became symbolic of a variety of concepts. In ancient times, people would use salt to preserve and purify things. In times of war, armies would salt land to render them useless (Judges 9:45). And who can forget, when Lot’s wife looked back and God turned her into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). These practices gave the foundation for salt’s association with life, death, and sacrifice.
In Colossians 4:6, we find Paul instructing the church at Colossae to be gracious and season their words. Given that salt was used to preserve and elevate the taste of food, the metaphor alludes to a conversation that is uplifting and life-giving.
Oftentimes, salt is one of the last things we add to a meal, before we consume it. What if Paul is instructing the people to stay prepared with words of encouragement for other people? What if he’s teaching us to be compassionate towards others with our words? How powerful would we be as believers?
As we study the word of God, we should walk away with practical steps for our life. My takeaway from this passage is to stay ready to speak life into others.
What about you? What’s your takeaway? How will you walk it out in your daily life?
