Friday, September 12, 2025
At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, so that I may make it known as I should. Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person. Colossians 4:3-6
For Hurting Hearts And Heavy Days
These are heavy days. We are even more aware of the evil around us and just how vulnerable and fleeting life is. Honestly my stomach is churning and nothing I am doing seems to be effective if making it stop. It is not about a political viewpoint or a particular party affiliation. It is mankind that I grieve over. Our world feels so crazy right now, and looking at the world makes everything feel insecure and unsafe.
I know in my head that God is never taken by surprise. I read the words of scripture and comprehend and even believe but my heart… my heart still hurts. How can we as Christians be a light in the darkness when we feel covered by darkness? Because even when evil seems to get the upper hand and all feels lost, we are still called. We are still to be salt and light in the darkest of times. We are still called to be ministers to hurting people and truth bearers to a confused and deceived world. We are still called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, even when (especially when?) it is only our mouths that we can use. Being the hands and feet of Jesus today looks a lot different than it did in Jesus’ day. In some regards it is absolutely the same. When we can minister personally to people, face to face, we should, but a lot of what happens today happens on social media platforms. As image bearers of a holy God, we must remember who we represent when we post and comment online. It is crazy easy to get stirred up in online debates and word wars, but we must remember that we are still called. No matter what circumstance or battle we find ourselves in, we are still called to all of the above.
In the passage above Paul writes from prison to the Colossians, giving them lots of good advice. Paul asks for the church in Colossae to pray, not for him, but that the Gospel would still go forth. He asks them to pray for an open door for the word. Even while he is in prison in chains because of his faithfulness to the Gospel, the only thing Paul wants is for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be advanced. He wanted to be able to continue to tell everyone the Good News even if it led to more chains for him.
Then Paul jumps right back into his advice on Christian living starting with how we should treat everyone, inside and outside the fellowship. The way we act and treat others is always on display. The way we speak to others is a great big part of this. People will notice a tone of voice and will quickly take it out of context. Time is of the essence, and we do not have time to waste being rude and ungracious to others. Making the most of the time speaks to the urgency that Paul always felt for sharing the Gospel. Paul lived with the urgency that Christ’s return is imminent and there is no time to waste. Souls were at stake, and they needed the hope of salvation.
Gracious Speech, Seasoned with Salt
The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning grace. When we have been shown so much undeserved grace from our Heavenly Father, how can we not show grace to all around us? For a believer, grace should be a lifestyle. It doesn’t just show up in the way we speak but in every action we take. The grace of God in us becomes who we are.
“The word ‘grace’ has, in Greek as in English, the possible double meaning of God’s grace and human graciousness.” (Wright)
Keeping our conversations gracious and seasoned with salt can be hard sometimes. People hurt us and are unkind but as ambassadors of Christ we are to stay gracious no matter what. That does not mean that we are supposed to accept abuse or rudeness. It means that we bring truth into grace. We can say what needs to be said with grace, seasoned with salt.
In rabbinic tradition, the words, “seasoned with salt,” would have been associated with wisdom. Paul was reminding the Colossians they were called to be people filled with godly wisdom. He wants us to remember that their words, and ours, are used to represent Jesus. And in order to do this, we can follow His model to pursue both grace and truth together.
Hard conversations and hurt are a part of life. Someone will always test our limits on grace, but with the help of the holy spirit, we have the help we need to choose truth-filled words and present them in a gracious way.
