Gracefully Seasoned Words – Part 1

“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…