“You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13).

Normally when someone looks at you and says, “You’re being a little salty,” it’s not meant as a compliment. Jesus, who liked to be different than the religious leaders of his day, was encouraging his listeners to be just that . . . salty. But he didn’t mean it in a negative way.

Salt preserves, salt (when taken in the appropriate dose) is good for you, and salt even adds a little flavor. Earlier in the book of Matthew, Jesus said that the people of this world who reject him are in the dark. So he encouraged his listeners to be a light to this dark world. Like peanut butter is to jelly, with letting our lights shine, Jesus also encouraged us to add a splash of salt to our lives of living for him. We can use the salt of the gospel to show God’s preservation for us and for others. We can give a good sprinkle of the law and the gospel over our daily conversations. And when others are being negative, we can spice things up by being a salty Christian. A Christian who’s not a perfect know-it-all but one who realizes he or she is a lost and condemned creature, a follower of God who needs a whole lot of flavoring in his or her life, a flavor that only Christ can give.

So grab the shaker of the gospel God has given you and, like dinner, feel free to pass the salt.