I love food! I know food is a necessity for all people, but for me, it is also a hobby of sorts. I enjoy a good meal. I am from Louisiana; it is in my blood. I could spend lots of time waxing eloquently about what constitutes “good food” for me, but it is much easier and concise to tell you what is “bad food”. One sure-fire way to ruin a meal is to under-season it. In my preference, bland food is the worst. YUCK!
According to the bible, this is also true of our speech. Colossians 4:6 states, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” As disciples of Christ, our speech out to be pleasing and tasty! How we speak specifically about Christ should be appetizing.
We should have gracious speech because we have graciousness in our hearts, “for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45) The grace that we have experienced in Christ Jesus flows through our hearts and outward into kindness. This kind, gracious speech of Christ to others should also be interesting, not boring or bland. Salt had three uses at that time. It could preserve food, sterilize food, or season food. Here in this verse, Paul took the last meaning. Conversation was to be seasoned, acceptable, and inoffensive. (Melick)
So, as we speak to others about Christ, how do we ensure that it will have a seasoned flavor? Simple, if you want to speak interestingly and graciously with someone about Christ, you will need to know Christ, love Christ and remind yourself daily of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I heard another pastor put it this way, “spend time every day reminding yourself from Scripture why the gospel tastes good to you. Enjoy Christ. It's hard to salt your speech with the deliciousness of Jesus when you haven't been enjoying the taste yourself.”
Nourish yourself in the Word of God, remind yourself of the glory of the gospel, what Jesus has accomplished for you, of God’s wonderful promises, and of how incredible Jesus is. Then, go tell someone.
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