Matthew 5:3
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
Philippians 2:3-4 (New International Version)
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
I was preparing my weekly Bible lesson for a homeless shelter. We're on the Sermon on the Mount, and the verse from Matthew above is one we will be discussing this week. Then the one in Philippians popped up for me in my reading. I saw them together.
Salt is what enhances other things. It's added in small amounts to most foods to enhance other flavors, in everything from soups to cakes. So Jesus is asking us to enhance whatever or whoever comes to us. Encourage, lift, comfort others and don't try to be the big deal, the main thing. Quietly, without ego, go about softly enhancing. Be like the salt.
Then Paul tells us something similar. Don't do anything from ego. Be humble. Don't put yourself above others.
Let's consider the importance of being salt and discover the sweet ways we can enhance all those who come in our lives.
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