Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.

The things I say...I just say too much. And much of it comes out wrong. It sounds OK to me, but sometimes the things I say don't quite have the right effect.

My speech is not always gracious. Let me rephrase. My speech is almost always NOT gracious. It just doesn't come natural. I have to work and think hard at it.

Paul says our speech should be seasoned with salt. In the right amount, salt adds flavor. Too much salt will choke a person.

I think we go to opposite extremes.

Sometimes we don't say enough. Someone loses a loved one and we stay away and don't express ourselves to them. We don't know what to say, so we don't say anything. Someone is making bad decisions or needs a helping hand and we keep quiet. No salt there. Bland. No flavor.

Sometimes we say too much. We criticize a person's faults. We tell them every time they are wrong. Too much salt. It chokes them to death. It makes them gag. They can't get down everything we are saying. It's too salty.

So, don't forget to salt your words a little. You don't want to be bland! But don't put on too much. You don't want to choke anyone, do you? Just the right amount of salt will make others thirsty for more Jesus, the Living Water!