“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬ ‭CSB‬‬

When I was a child, my family used to drive across the country in the heat of the summer to visit family. With no air conditioning. The windows were all open in our station wagon, but the air blasting through was hot and dry. My father would make us take salt tablets. I guess that’s what was done before Gatorade? Sometimes I had a difficult time swallowing them, and they would end up starting to dissolve in my mouth. The taste was horrific as I panicked and kept failing to swallow them.

Salt by itself is truly unpleasant.

But added in the proper amount to various foods, it is miraculous! It is a game-changer in the world of cuisine. From flavor-enhancer to preservative, salt can be a hero.

My words are supposed to be like that. The things I say to Betty should encourage her to be the best version of herself, the way salt encourages broccoli to taste its best. The way I talk to Veronica may be different because she is a very different person, but it should still encourage the best in her. I don’t salt broccoli the same way I salt cookies. But either of them without salt is definitely harder to enjoy. And either of them with too much salt is inedible. In the same way, I must be careful not to either inundate my listeners with my attempts to be encouraging or avoid meaningful topics altogether.

But how do I know how to talk to Betty or Veronica in a “salty” fashion? How do I know what they need?

A big part of the answer is listening to the Holy Spirit, constantly, before, during, and even after our conversations. He knows my audience through and through and knows exactly what they need.

The second part is listening to them! I will be much more effective at understanding Betty and her needs if I spend time listening to her. I can’t get to know Veronica by blathering on about myself or the weather without stopping to hear what she has to say. People tell you what they need if you pay attention.

Dear God,

Thank you for the opportunity to be an encouragement to someone else, to perhaps bring them to experience your love — the greatest encouragement of all. Remind me to listen to you always. Remind me also to listen more than I talk. And when I do talk, please give me the exact right amount of salt for each person.