Seasoned speech

Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. – Colossians 4v6

The term ‘salty speech’ today has come to haven taken on a reference to vulgarity. That was not the intention of the translators. The Greek word is the word for salt, but the idea for the Greeks, and even for the translators, was that of prudence, or discretion.

I am amazed how often that we Christians use this concept when dealing with others. Too often when posed with a verbal challenge we respond with anger. We rant and rave and rail and revile and respond in anything but a gracious and prudent manner. Our wrong way of answering often results in the door being closed and relationships damaged.

The right amount of salt in our food improves its flavour. Too little and it is dull and bland. Too much and it is inedible. As we strive to season our food with just the right amount of salt, so we must season our grace filled speech with just the right amount of discretion. In a reversal of the salt usage, too little discretion makes our speech offensive and irreceivable. Too much discretion makes it weak and insipid.

How do we answer the critics and the sceptics? Only graceful, properly seasoned speech is effective to give the answer.