Staying salty for Christ is a vital calling for believers, as Jesus declares. Matthew 5:13You are the salt of the earth.[1] This profound statement encourages us to consider our vital role as believers in a world that desperately needs Christ-like influence. It is a great privilege that the Lord grants us—to be salt in a world that needs it—and we should take this responsibility more seriously. Just as salt has many purposes—such as preserving, adding flavor, and creating thirst—we, as believers, are called to be agents of God in the world.
However, to be the salt, we must be willing and available—an important yet simple principle. With God’s help, we can bring preservation, enhance spiritual flavor, and ignite a desire for God in those around us. When we live transformed lives, our actions become a powerful testimony of how to follow Jesus. The people who have influenced my Christian walk the most are those you would describe as believers who truly are salty.
Don’t Lose Your Saltiness
Jesus is serious. Matthew 5:13But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.” [2] This is a severe warning about the dangers of spiritual apathy and compromise for both individuals and the church. When salt loses its flavor, it becomes useless and is only suitable for throwing away.
Likewise, when believers lose their distinctiveness by adopting worldly values and giving in to sin, their effectiveness for Christ diminishes. We stop being agents of preservation or flavor, and our witness becomes empty. This loss of saltiness can occur due to fear of rejection, a desire to fit in, neglecting spiritual disciplines, or simply allowing the worries of this world to take over our spiritual lives.
In my own experience, when I became spiritually lazy, I stopped being salty. We are in a spiritual fight, and when we fail to grow spiritually, we tend to drift along with the world’s current.
You Can Become Salty Again
The good news is that while salt cannot regain its chemical properties once lost, we, as spiritual beings, can always return to our source of saltiness: Jesus Christ. That is the grace of God. It is something I have experienced, and you can too. If we find ourselves losing our flavor, the path to becoming salty for Jesus begins with repentance and a renewed commitment to Him.
Let the Holy Spirit draw you closer to the Lord through prayer, meditating on His Word, and worship. Take time to be around other believers who can encourage and support you on your faith journey. Staying salty for Christ helps us serve as a guiding light in a confusing world. With God’s help, we can speak the truth in love and share the good news of Jesus with others. Our calling is to be a godly presence, influencing every sphere of influence we enter, so that through us, others may taste and see that the Lord is good.
To learn more, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/called-to-be-salt-and-light
[1-2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers.
Great word!