ODJ: gracious and salty
January 10, 2012
Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone (v.6).
READ: Colossians 4:2-6
During a press conference for Clint Eastwood’s new movie Hereafter, the reporters were clearly smitten with him. When a Brazilian reporter apologised for his poor command of English and a “silly question,” Eastwood sat forward in his chair and told the writer, “No question is silly.”
After the event, a writer reported, “One gets the feeling that [Eastwood] is always respectful of what other people think and feel.”
How about us? What do people think of the way we behave? In the apostle Paul’s epistle to the church in Colosse, he reminded the believers that Jesus lived in them (Colossians 1:27). This reality called for a change in the way they lived.
So, in chapters 3 and 4, he taught them to live out their new life in Jesus. One of his instructions was that they speak appropriately to others. We read: “Let your conversation be gracious and attractive” (4:6).
Gracious words are words that are wholesome, fitting, kind, loving, thoughtful, and sensitive. They are words that aren’t bitter, abrasive, caustic, boastful, or vindictive.
May our speech always reflect grace—in stressful situations, when we’ve been wronged, when we disagree with our spouse or child, and in casual conversation with our neighbour. Whatever the situation, may our speech be gracious.
Additionally, may our words be “attractive” or—in another version—“seasoned with salt.” Our aim shouldn’t be to flatter others but, like salt, to speak truth in love in order to bring healing and prevent corruption.
We should make sure our conversations are flavoured with attractive ideas so that listeners are stimulated—their curiosity aroused.
Does your speech reflect Jesus, who is living within you? —Poh Fang Chia
Under what situations and towards whom are you most tempted to speak ungracious and unattractive words? What will you do differently today, acknowledging that Jesus is within you?
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