Living Salt
READ
In Jesus’ day, salt was far more than a seasoning used to enhance the flavor of food. Whether it was being used to preserve meat, treat wounds, strengthen roads, or create kindling for fires in the home, salt was an ever-present and indispensable element in the ancient world.
Against this backdrop, Jesus’ declaration that we are the “salt of the earth” takes on deeper meaning. As followers of Christ, we are called to be people who preserve what is good, promote healing where there is brokenness, and carry the warmth of God’s love into our homes, workplaces, and communities.
Let’s take a moment to read Matthew 5:13:
“You are the salt of the earth. But 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.”
REFLECT
What is fascinating about today’s verse is that Jesus does not instruct us to become the “salt of the earth.” He doesn’t demand that we become a source of healing, hope, and warmth through our own religious effort.
Rather, Jesus teaches that we are already the salt of the earth. By sheer virtue of His love for us, we have already become agents of healing, preservation, and hope. As those who have received His Holy Spirit, we do not have to strive or struggle to become what He has already made us to be.
What Christ says next can be easily misconstrued to inspire undue fear and anxiety. However, Jesus’ first-century audience would’ve known instinctively what modern science has since confirmed: sodium and chloride share a strong ionic bond. Salt, by nature, cannot “lose” its saltiness; however, it can be made impure or diluted by foreign elements.
The point is this: our God-given identity is incorruptible. Once we have embraced Christ as our Savior, we cannot lose our privileged status before the Father. By grace alone, we have become “salt of the earth.”
However, we can become less effective as ministers of His light, love, and healing if we allow ourselves to be corrupted by the world and its distorted values. Though we can never lose our position in the Kingdom, we can lose our ability to meaningfully contribute to its redemptive mission.
Paradoxically, living into our identity as the “salt of the earth” is not a matter of performance, but permission. Living as “salt” doesn’t mean striving—it means making space for the Holy Spirit to do its work through us. Living as salt means allowing God to continually free us from sin and selfish ambition so that we might more effectively live into our purpose. However, this is far easier said than done.
In order to be used, salt must be gathered, dried, purified, and poured out. Jesus’ original audience would’ve made a practice of collecting salt from the Dead Sea before drying it out in the scorching sun, sifting it, and putting it to use.
Likewise, in order for us to be effective as “salt,” we must go through periods of refinement. Though the process of collecting and purifying salt would’ve been tedious in the ancient world, it was a means to life-giving ends. Similarly, allowing the Holy Spirit to free us from bitterness, impatience, and idolatry is often grueling. However, the results of this refining work is indispensable.
If we are willing, God can use us to heal wounds, preserve relationships, and accentuate the flavor of the delicious life He’s created for us to enjoy.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
What attitudes, habits, or patterns of thinking might be diminishing your ability to fully live into your identity as the “salt of the earth”?
Of salt’s many purposes—preserving what is good, bringing healing where there is brokenness, or providing warmth—which role do you sense God inviting you to embrace in this season? What is one practical step you can take this week to partner with God in that calling?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
Father, thank You for using me for Your redemptive purposes! Thank You for giving me Your Spirit so that I can live and conduct myself as “the salt of the earth.” Purify and refine me so that I might live more fully into this identity. Rid me of any habits, thought patterns, or attitudes that hold me back from preserving life, healing wounds, and bringing flavor to mundane moments. I love You, Lord, and I thank You for allowing me to be a part of Your Kingdom work on earth. Help me to see this calling as both the privilege and responsibility it is. Amen.
Port City writer Kate Redenbaugh wrote today’s devotional.