TASTY WORDS
COLOSSIANS 4:5-6 NKJV
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Paul is writing to the church about how to deal with those who are not believers.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside the faith. Notice he did not say to avoid those who are outside. But we are to be wise about how we interact.
We don't follow those who are outside the faith. We don't try to be accepted by them. We don't allow them to influence us, and we do not walk in their counsel.
We do redeem the time. Most translations render this phrase as making the most of the opportunities. So as we encounter those who do not know the Lord, we want to look for opportunities to sow seeds into their lives. We want to be an influence.
This is a different mindset. We are looking for opportunities to influence them for Christ, to plant quality seeds in their lives.
So here is where verse six comes into play. This verse addresses how we are to talk with those who are outside the faith. The two verses are connected.
Let your words always be with grace. Grace involves what God did for us. We did not earn God's grace. It was freely given. As we deal with unbelievers, our words reflect God's grace toward us, and that makes us gracious with them.
But seasoned with salt can have a double meaning. One side views seasoned words as being attractive. The other side would be words that have truth that acts as a preservative. So our words are gracious and attractive and have a quality in them that can impact the hearts of those in darkness.
APPLICATION:
Our role is to be salt and light in a dark world that is rapidly deteriorating. We will have to use wisdom. We will have to be gracious. And there will need to be words based on the life-giving truth of God's word.
Thankfully we have the help of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. He knows how to help us speak tasty words to hungry hearts.
PRAYER:
Lord, help me walk in wisdom toward those outside the faith. Teach me to speak words that have an impact on the hearts of those around me.