Strong Convictions - Gentle Hearts #3 Salt and Light (Conclusion)
| You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew5:13-16) |
Jesus calls us to be salt and light.
He doesn't say: "Win every argument."
He says: "Be salt."
- Salt preserves.
- Salt flavours.
- Salt can cleanse and inhibit decay.
- Salt can make us thirsty.
But salt cannot do that at a distance.
It has to be ingested or absorbed. It has to be involved.
Scripture Union has the motto, "Earn the right to speak through personal friendship." Someone else said: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." We're not winning arguments, we're winning people's hearts through sincere love and care.
Jesus calls us to be light:
- Light comforts and it pushes away darkness.
- Light guides and reveals wrong pathways.
- Light attracts but it also repels evil.
- Light reveals but it can also expose.
- Light brings life.
Light can be a searchlight that catches people doing wrong, a lighthouse that warns of danger, or a campfire that brings the lost hiker to safety. In our relationships, the light of Christ in us will comfort and guide. But, it may also expose and repel and so sometimes people react badly. It may be because the truth has confronted them, but it may also be because we have communicated poorly or set a bad example that doesn't match our words. We should always strive to be guided by God's Spirit so that we can rightly interpret and respond to people's reactions and God's promptings.
We're not called to win arguments but, with God's help, to win people's hearts.
People should see our good deeds and glorify the Father.
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And with that, we come to the end of our series, "Wisdom for Every Day Life."
I hope these devotions have challenged, encouraged and helped us to think about what it means to follow Jesus in an anxious, distracted and opinionated world.
Thank you for sharing the journey with me.
For the month of October we will be joining in the "Month of Mission" organised by the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. We will have different ministers writing about the "Habits of Growing and Declining Churches." I think you will really enjoy them.
