Colossians 4:6 exhorts us, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”
One of the most difficult things in the world, if not the most difficult thing to control, is our tongue, our mouth.
In fact, James reminds us that “every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”
At the moment our speech occurs, what comes out and how it comes out reflects that which is in our heart at that moment. For me, that is a scary thought, a very humbling and convicting thought.
Matthew confirms this with, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Maybe that’s really why the proverb writer tells us to guard our heart (Proverbs 4:23).
Paul’s exhortation in Colossians 4 was and is to the church, the people of God. Let your speech always be gracious... Does it mean we gloss over the truth, the hard conversations? No, but, there is that verse, “speak the truth in LOVE.” That’s to be love for the other person as a brother or sister in Christ, not love for our “point of view” or our “agenda”.
If there is ever a place where we should all experience “salty speech”, it ought to be among the people of God, the community of faith.
When we don’t give it or receive it, we need the gospel--the cross, confession, repentance, forgiveness, humility among us all. Starting with me.
One of the most difficult things in the world, if not the most difficult thing to control, is our tongue, our mouth.
In fact, James reminds us that “every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”
At the moment our speech occurs, what comes out and how it comes out reflects that which is in our heart at that moment. For me, that is a scary thought, a very humbling and convicting thought.
Matthew confirms this with, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Maybe that’s really why the proverb writer tells us to guard our heart (Proverbs 4:23).
Paul’s exhortation in Colossians 4 was and is to the church, the people of God. Let your speech always be gracious... Does it mean we gloss over the truth, the hard conversations? No, but, there is that verse, “speak the truth in LOVE.” That’s to be love for the other person as a brother or sister in Christ, not love for our “point of view” or our “agenda”.
If there is ever a place where we should all experience “salty speech”, it ought to be among the people of God, the community of faith.
When we don’t give it or receive it, we need the gospel--the cross, confession, repentance, forgiveness, humility among us all. Starting with me.
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