QUESTION: What is the TRUE SALT AND LIGHT blog all about?
ANSWER: WELCOME! The TRUE SALT AND LIGHT blog is for absolutely everyone but it is meant to provide Bible believers with inspiration and encouragement to truly be the salt of the earth and to let their lives (light) shine. All are welcome to view this blog and it is my prayer that unbelievers will also visit here to find a safe place of insight and understanding about God's love for them and how they may know Him.
QUESTION: What does it mean to be THE SALT OF THE EARTH?
ANSWER: Let's talk about natural salt for a moment. Salt is a natural substance that we normally add to food to make it more tasty or desireable. Salt is flavorful, adds excitement and perks up things that would normally seem bland. The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms describes a person who is "worth their salt" as a person of kindness, reliability, honesty and integrity. In order for us to be "the salt of the earth" we must add value to other's lives by joyfully and enthusiastically being a living representation of God's love. When something is seasoned the right way and tastes really good, it can make you wish you had some more of it. We must live in such a way that it causes other's to want to know more about God's love for them.
Matthew 5:13
QUESTION: What does it mean to LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE?
ANSWER: I live in a place where I am prone to having thunderstorms several times a year. Many times the thunderstorms are so severe that they knock out all of the electricity to my home. I have learned that it is necessary for me to keep a flashlight in my bedside nightstand as well as flashlights, matches and candles in other parts of my home so that if the electricity goes out at night, I can easily use a flashlight or a candle to see where I am going instead of wandering around the house in the dark, bumping into things and hurting myself. In much the same way that my flashlight provides light for me to see where I need to go in the darkness, we must represent God with our lives in such a way that others may see that the right way to go is with God. The light of God's love shown through us will brighten up the dark places in other people's lives and that light will show them the way out of the darkness.
QUESTION: How can we let our light shine?
ANSWER: ( Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.) Many people will never pick up a Bible to open it and read what it says about God but people do read us by our actions. We must let our lives be a witness and a testament about what we know to be true about God without having to hold up our Bible and wave it around, wear a T-shirt or necklace with a cross on it or put a bumper sticker on our car that says "I love God". Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing any of those things but the true way people will KNOW that you love God is by.......
1. Choosing to show love instead of hate when there has been offense
2. Choosing to show mercy and grace instead of seeking revenge
3. Choosing to forgive instead of being angry and bitter
4. Choosing to be silent instead of verbally or physically lashing out at those who have hurt you intentionally or unintentionally, mis-judged you, wrongfully accused you, slandered or defamed your integrity/character, gossiped (lied) about you and insulted you or shamed you. We don't wrestle against flesh or blood so by allowing God to fight our battles, we can be assured that TRUTH will eventually come to the forefront and we will always win in the end no matter how long it takes.
5. Choosing to be a blessing to our enemies, doing something good toward them and praying for them. Many times enemies will think that when we do good toward them that it is kissing up to them or an admission of our guilt but this is not the case. When truth is finally revealed they will see that you were simply showing them love even when they may not have been so lovely to you.
6. Displaying the Fruit of the Spirit: (Galatians 5: 2-23) Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness/kindness, meekness, goodness, self-control
7. Being truly accepting of all colors/race and ethnicities. We can say we love others with our mouths or even by a display of actions but if it is not genuine, sincere or heartfelt then it isn't effective. We must truly love everyone. In the household I was raised in, I was taught that ALL people are God's people. This has made it extremely easy for me to accept and love anyone. Over my lifetime, I have been in various cultural settings (school, business, church, etc.) and although the "right" words may have been spoken to me (I'm a woman of color) out of a sense of moral correctness, it has been very easy for me to detect when things were extremely loving and genuine and when things were very, very phony. If your desire is to love God and be effective for Him but you know you are struggling with racial prejudice, please ask the Lord to forgive you and to heal your heart in this area. I John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.
Now that we know the basics, let's begin today to be the TRUE salt and the light.
