Seasoned with Salt

by Stacy Edwards, from Devotions From the Kitchen Table

Our conversations should always be well seasoned, and a dash of grace is always appropriate. — Stacy Edwards

Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person. — Colossians 4:6 HCSB

Seasoning is vital to any dish you make. Steak, pasta, or seafood all need the appropriate mix of spices to wow a person’s palate. One thing that can cause any dish to be a disappointment is for it to not have enough salt. Watch any cooking show and you’ll see that cooks salt everything from pasta water to ground beef to salads. Salt makes rice pop and adds an extra dose of pizzazz to spaghetti sauce. It’s an appropriate addition to almost any dish and can be found on practically every table in every restaurant. You just can’t go wrong with a dash of salt.

In the book of Colossians, Paul taught the Christ-followers to season their conversations with salt. First, he told them to make the best use of their time. In other words, share the gospel at every opportunity. Paul then went on to tell them to always be gracious in their conversations. Grace in a conversation is like salt in a dish; you can’t go wrong.

Have you ever eaten a particular dish at someone’s home and been surprised that you liked it? Maybe Brussels sprouts have always triggered your gag reflex. Then Nana serves them one day for Sunday brunch, so you try them to be polite and discover that they’re quite tasty! It’s because they are seasoned in a way that makes them more palatable.

Our conversations with others should be the same way. We don’t always know people’s experiences. They may have had an encounter where the gospel was presented in an aggressive or harsh way or may have a past that causes them to be hesitant to listen. Our conversations should always be well seasoned, and a dash of grace is always appropriate.

Lord, remind me to always season my speech with grace. Teach me to speak the truth, but to speak it in love. May every word that comes out of my mouth point others to You.

Think back to a time when you tried a bite of food that you didn’t expect to like. Now think back to a conversation with someone which had previously been a painful or upsetting one… but this time it wasn’t. You felt heard, loved, understood, given space, respected. That’s truth with grace. Who needs to hear grace (with truth) from you today? Who needs you to be salt?