“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned
with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6).
We
have known about and used salt like forever. We use salt as a seasoning to give
flavor to foods and as a preservative to prevent food from going bad. Apart
from being used in food, salt has been very useful for household cleaning and
even in beauty and healthcare.
For
instance, salt is used as a stain remover, to clean stains and rust from household
appliances; to alleviate sore throat when gargled as salt water;
to relieve tired feet after a long, stressful day by soaking the feet in warm
salt water; to remove odours from hands, cutting boards, and garbage bins.
From
our Bible text above, it seems that salt can do the same for our conversation -
remove stains, promote beauty and health, and eliminate odours. For our
speech to be gracious and seasoned with salt, our words should express respect,
tolerance, thankfulness, and kindness.
Words of Respect, not Insult
Teenagers are universally renowned for disrespectful behaviour. In words and deeds, an angry and corky teenager spews disrespect without reservation. Why is this so? Do you know that just as we can control our salt intake, we can also control the kind of words we say especially when we are angry or hurt. Disrespectful words are unbecoming of us as children of God and bring more hurt and sadness and makes everyone silly and miserable.
Proverbs 15:1-2, “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make
tempers flare. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a
fool belches out foolishness”.
Words of
Tolerance, Not Judgment
It
is so easy for teenagers to find fault in others, but to extend grace to them, even when ours
is worse is difficult. We are intolerant to our differences, so we hate and bully others. The language of love and friendship is tolerance rather
than judgment. Tolerance is a divine quality. God is patient, kind and tolerant
unto us, so we should do likewise to others. We should be willing to make
allowances for one another rather than imputing all sorts of opinions and prejudices on one
another’s action. Then our words will carry the grace of sympathy and the salt
of empathy.
Ephesians 4:2, “With all humility and gentleness,
with patience, bearing with one another in love”.
Words of Thankfulness,
Not Complaint
We are
so easily dissatisfied. At school, we complain about our teachers and fellow students and at the workplace, we complain about our
bosses and colleagues. We grumble behind
someone who is going too slowly, and in front of someone screaming impatiently
behind us. One would have thought that the only reason we should complain is when
we are ill or hurt or offended or facing loss. But God calls us to more:
“Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in
all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in
your heart to God” (Colossians 3:16).
Words of Kindness, Not
Bitterness
Sometimes,
the conversations we hold with our friends and/or colleagues tends to quickly
degenerate into uncouth words, tirades, gossip and backbiting - something unedifying. In many
cases, we forget that there are other people, outside our group, listening to
our conversation. The Bible admonishes us thus;
“Let
no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for
building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day
of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be
put away from you, along with malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:29-32).
The
world is full of lies and deceit. We see it on every corner, every channel we
turn to on the television, and we also see it creeping into our own lives as
well. But when we give our lives to Jesus, we give Him everything and this
includes our tongues as well. How
can we be an effective witness for Christ if we are deceiving ourselves with
our own words?
James 1:26, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a
tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless”.
To be
continued next week…
