How We Speak / David Jeremiah

 

How We Speak Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Colossians 4:6 It is said that first-century Jewish rabbis referred to wisdom as “salt”—something that is both a preservative and is tasty (attractive). A “covenant of salt” (2 Chronicles 13:5) suggested a permanent (preserved) bond between the parties. Jesus, as a Teacher, may have been using that metaphor when He said that His followers were “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13).

Recommended Reading: 1 Peter 3: 15 – 16

Paul was likely combining all these ideas when he wrote that Christians’ speech toward outsiders should be gracious and “seasoned with salt.” He said something similar in Ephesians 4:29, saying that our speech should be edifying and a source of grace to those who hear our words. He warned about the opposite of such speech in Colossians 3:8—crude, carnal speech, not befitting a follower of Christ, speech neither of permanent value nor attractive. How do we talk when around non-believers? Do we speak like the world, trying to fit in? Or do we speak graciously in ways that build up our hearers? Are our words attractive, conveying love and grace? How we speak to non-Christians is as important as what we say to them. To honor Jesus, grace and truth are both essential. Randy Alcorn