Being The Salt

Jesus didn’t ask believers if they wanted to be salt to the world. He simply said YOU ARE the salt of the earth. Not the salt of Heaven. Not the salt in the sweet bye-and-bye. TODAY, you are SALT.

Matthew 5:13

ESV – “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how
shall its saltiness be restored?”

NASB – “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become
tasteless, how can it be made salty again?”

So, what does it mean, and how do we act like salt? I see it in several aspects for our being salt in this world. I see our saltiness working in the Body of Christ, and I see it working in the world, with people you meet, people you know. I also see the personal aspect of being saltiness in your own spiritual life. We usually think of being salt to others, but we need salt in our spiritual lives. We bring a spiritual saltiness to ourselves. Interesting, isn’t it?

Our focus today is not to list all the uses of SALT, but to show you what the Word says about how to be salt in practical ways. You can make others thirsty for Jesus. You can share God’s love with those who are hurting or who are in need for what you have. Don’t be afraid to sprinkle some salt on those you meet. It’s probably just what they are looking for. That’s what Proverbs 15:23, KJV says: “A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!”

Colossians 4:5-6, NIV. “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Notice how we talk—what we say—to others is to be gracious. It’s not to be harsh as salt on a wound. How we speak should be gracious, elevating God’s grace to us and sharing it with others. We shouldn’t be the harsh salt that hurts and causes people to walk away. Speak graciously with people, seeing them and loving them as Jesus does.

Your saltiness can aid in building up the Body, providing a balance of His love, His gifts, and His grace. Mark 9:50, NIV – “Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” If everyone in the Body operates in their salt ability, we’ll see more peace and mutual love and respect. Just as your physical body needs salt for good muscle health, so God’s Body of believers need a good balance of saltiness which always operates in His love and grace toward others.

Hebrews 10:23-25, NIV – “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.”

Fundamental to acting like salt is a steadfast assurance of the life and hope you have in Jesus. If you aren’t grounded in what you have as a child of God, and who you are in Him, you’ll lack the power and saltiness of your new life in Him. Once you’re grounded in who you are in Jesus, you’ll operate from a different perspective. It won’t be focused on you. It’ll be focused on encouraging others to see the fullness of God’s goodness for themselves. That’s when you continue to encourage others to grow in the Word, to reach out to others, and to do good things through God’s love.

That’s when you are being salt in the Body of Christ promoting what we can call good vascular health. The Body of Christ needs good vascular health. It doesn’t need to be bickering and fighting within. In the physical body that’s when sickness and disease threatens. We need the Body of Christ healthy. Let’s encourage one another in God’s promises, secured through Jesus’s finished work. Let’s encourage one another to grow in the Word of His Grace. Let’s encourage one another to walk in love toward each other, and especially toward the world. The mark of the salty Christian is their love. It’s His love flowing through us, through you, to others. That’s being salt.

You can help the Body stay hydrated in the fulness of Jesus as you pass the salt shaker to others.

Let’s BE SALT in our world.