Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:6
These are brave words in a society that praises the crass, the brash, and the asinine and that rewards deception and selfishness. I could name a few examples from the media right now, but y’all are smart people. There’s no better way for a Christian to stand out than in their speech, talk that is full of grace and seasoned with just the right amount of salt.
One of my favorite things to make are chocolate chip cookies. Let’s look at the ingredients: only a little salt, but it goes a long way. What do we need a lot of? Flour and sugar. Coincidence? I think not…
We all know that one person who grabs the whole canister of Morton’s Salt and dumps it into a conversation, so to speak. It’s abrasive. It’s hard swallow. It’s not worth a lot.
On the other hand, I’m sure we all know someone (and hopefully we are striving to be that someone) that sprinkles in just the right amount of salt in a conversation or debate. How do you feel after listening to them? Is that how you want others to feel after you speak? Or do others feel like they are choking down a shaker full of salt when you finally close your mouth?
Now, this doesn’t mean our conversations are so sugary sweet that they make the listener sick. The scripture says “full of grace,” but that not only means extending encouragement, but sharing the truth in love. Sometimes sin must be confronted. Sometimes errors need to be corrected. Sometimes you do need to speak up. But with words full of grace, and seasoned with salt.
What about you? What’s an instance when you were on the receiving end of a “salty” conversation? What are ways that you guard your speech?
