Let us Season Our Conversation As We Do With Our Cooking (Colossians 4:5-6) - A Sermon by Elise Beatrice

TRANSCRIPT

Let us Season Our Conversation As We Do With Our Cooking

A Sermon by Elise Beatrice - 7 February 2025

Colossians 4:5-6,

Colossians 4:5–6

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

We must remember that these words are always referring to when we’re preaching the Gospel and living as Christians, following the Lord’s will.

Often, we see some believers on many occasions behaving unwisely, associating with wrong things and certain people who do not set a good example of how we should live as moral people.

Many read Colossians 4:5-6 and understand it in a way that still gives them room to do their own will. They get drunk and throw themselves all over the place. And some have quoted this same Verse, “Make the most of every opportunity.”

Colossians 4:5–6

By killing ourselves, we are not making the most of any opportunity.

By behaving in a way that is unpleasing to the Lord, we are not making the most of an opportunity. But making the most of every opportunity, whatever environment we find ourselves in, means we should seek to bless people with the truth, with love, with what is good instead of evil.

If we see them doing evil, we should seek to bless them with the truth to help them to see that what they’re doing is helping themselves to commit suicide.

So, should we be so rude in our home, in the church, but seek to behave towards outsiders to show we are bearable people to be with? No. We cannot act well towards outsiders, then be rude in our own homes, churches and among us, the believers. If someone does that, they have not yet understood the meaning of love, the true love and perfect unity in Christ. They can afford to be rude to the believers, their siblings, brothers, and family, but they can make an effort when they’re with other people. It should not be so, because that one, who is showing love in their home, easily can show love outside. And that one who cares about what those around them feel will also care about what those outside feel. Because that same love, the Love of Christ, they feel in their homes for the people around them, will drive them even when they are outside.

The Lord loves not only His people; He also loves outsiders.

“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

This is something all humans relate to. If we are kind to people, they receive it well. If we’re rude to people, they receive it as we have given.

Those who are moral cannot tolerate immorality. Rebuking immorality is not rudeness.

The same way the Lord Jesus addressed the arrogant sinners is not the same way He addressed the humble sinners. And we should learn to make that distinction. However, there is no reason to live in a quarrelsome and argumentative environment because that always brings evil. Many people are often very rude, even to those who did nothing wrong to them. And this is not what the Lord encourages us to do.

‘Let our conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that we may know how to answer everyone.’

So, now, I’m going to use something we all relate to to help us understand better.

Let us season our conversation with salt. We all relate to cooking, and when we put our ingredients together to cook our food, our goal is to make it taste good. We have potatoes, bananas, tomatoes, onions, carrots, and various vegetables, as well as whatever we want to cook.

And we can see that we are not the only ones cooking.

We have many restaurants here, from left to right, and they are all doing the job of cooking. Their cooking would be plain if it had no salt. We all use the same ingredients to cook our food, yet some food tastes nicer than others. Some people would much rather eat this dish cooked by that person, and another one would prefer a dish cooked by another, because they have their own way of cooking that works. But what we need is salt, which is what all cooking has in common. If we don’t put salt in our cooking, it is already bland.

So, when we cook our soup, all these vegetables or any other dish, we must season it with salt.

We’re not speaking about spices or any other thing, but about Salt. Salt is very important biblically.

So, when we add salt to our cooking, it is full of flavour. And when we give the food to our guests or anyone who happens to be there, even if there are no other ingredients like ginger, garlic, leek, sage, onions, parsley, but only salt, it is enough to make it delicious. And when we give it to people, they enjoy that food and eat it with an appetite because the one who cooked it did it with love and has seasoned it with salt.

So, we care about people loving our dish. We truly care that we cook, and people would eat and say, “Wow! What a delicious meal!”

We care about that food nourishing them, we care about them eating it and enjoying it, and we see the joy and the smile on their faces because they have eaten something we’ve given them, and they loved it. And you can see they’re pleased with it; they are satisfied.

The same applies when we are having a conversation with people, with our loved ones, in church, with everyone else; we should strive to season that conversation in the same way we do when cooking our food.

Because we care about people loving our food, we should care about people loving our conversation, be edified by it, and built up by it. We should care about them engaging in that conversation as they do with our delicious meals. We should present our conversation to them in the same way we present our meals to them, and eat together with them.

Most people are quick to talk, and they don’t respect what the Scriptures say: “Be slow to speak and quick to listen.”

So often, many don’t listen; they let all kinds of poisonous talk stream out of their mouths and assume the worst in every situation. They target you and throw daggers at you even when you’re saying good things to them.

But that is not the Gospel; the Gospel is healthy and filled with life-saving nutrients, and what is healthy does not irritate anybody. Only demons are irritated by the Gospel, by the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the most beautiful Name, the Name above all names. The Name that heals, the Name that sets people free from the darkness. Yes, we are in the battle between good and evil, and evil hates Good.

Some people behave in such a manner without even knowing why. So, we should season our conversation as we do with our cooking. We should put in the right amount of salt. We should make it delicious so that whoever hears it will be encouraged and strengthened by it. We should remove from it every lie, every bitterness, every gossip, but the truth must remain always, for even if someone might not want to hear it, it will triumph and set many free from the darkness. We should season our conversation with salt, for without it, it is bland and tasteless. Let us remove from it any thorn that might stir up an argument. Let’s strip our conversations of any daggers and toxic bombs. Let us cook it like we cook our meals to feed humanity.

Let’s add in some carrots, vegetables, and most of all, let’s pray to the Lord to bless it, for He said in Exodus 23:25, “Worship the Lord your God, and His blessing will be on your food and water.”

Exodus 23:25

So, let our conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt... Yes, let’s cook our conversation like we cook our meals, and let’s season it with love and truth, honesty and integrity, righteousness and goodness, and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s season it with kindness. So they can receive what we’re presenting to them, eat it, be nourished by it, and they will praise God and thank the Lord for it.

Ephesians 4-29 speaks about the same things,

“Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.”

Yes, we must prevent ourselves from saying something that will just curse people and not bless them. If we challenge ourselves and only let out of our mouth what will bless people, according to the Scriptures, since we cannot please every human in this world, then we would have mastered the skill of love and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The fear of the Lord helps us to do that. Be quick to remember what the Lord says always brings us to control ourselves. So, we should strive to always picture the Lord Jesus in every situation. That way, we can quickly come back. It is difficult to many, of course, because we are living in a world where the ones who are responsible for causing people to behave like this are demons, the devil. And though many people may not know he’s there, he is speaking into their minds continuously. And when people don’t know how to discern, and even understand when they strike, they become their prey.

So, the Bible says,

“Be alert and vigilant, because the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking for someone to devour.”

He is continuously doing that, and many are falling into his traps without even knowing because they don’t know what’s going on. Many may claim to know, but they don’t really know.

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Ephesians 6:12

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).

Proverbs 15:1

“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24).

Proverbs 16:24

“Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Proverbs 12:18).

Proverbs 12:18

“Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21).

Proverbs 18:21

Gentleness is like water that extinguishes the fire. What we say can kill people, just like what we say can revive people. What we say can give people life, for if we place some good words to the One who gives life, to God, God can hear our good words, and give life to those people. But if we, with our own lips, curse people, death can come upon them, and it would not be God who has killed them. Cursing people is bringing death upon them, while praying for people is wanting life to be with them, and then God, who gives life to people, will hear our prayer for them. We can bless people with kindness and God’s ways, and they will be blessed by God. However, we can curse people with the devil’s ways, and they will be cursed by the devil, if the Lord’s protection is not with them. Those who love to bless eat the fruit of blessing, for while they’re blessing people, God is blessing them, for God is pleased with them. But those who love to curse others eat the fruit of their curse, for the Lord abandons them into the hands of the one, whose deeds of darkness they love. If only they renounced evil and remained in God’s love, He would save them.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

This is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8

I pray this will bless you. May the Lord Jesus’ peace be with you.

Thank You, God, for helping us as we make our conversation always full of grace, Your grace, Lord, like You do, seasoned with salt, so that even You will eat that conversation and You will say, “Delicious.” Lord... thank You, Lord.

Please help us all, for we’re always needing Your help.

Holy Father, please, hear my prayer, in the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.