Back to the Salt thing again...

Jesus tells us we are to be salt and light to the world.

Matthew 5:13 & 14

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men. You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden."

Often, I've been chastised by fellow believers who get bristled by my personal brand of salt and light, and I'm admonished to tone it down, or be more loving, or not to discuss certain things publicly. Now, I'm not writing this in response to anything recent - but tonight as I was enjoying a lovely and quiet drive home from visiting family God just popped this teaching in my head and I have to share it.

This teaching is long, so I'll split it in two. 

First, let's talk about SALT:

If I had a dollar for every time someone said something like "salt makes things taste better, so if we are to be salt in the world, we should enhance the world around us..." well, I'd have at least

If being humble is rewarded, what will happen to the proud?

We talked about the promises God makes to those who aren't afraid to humble themselves, and today I want to take a look at the consequences if hanging on to our pride. I think just about everyone knows the saying "pride goes before a fall" but that's not the half of it.


Here's the source of the saying we all know:

Proverbs 16:18 - " Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall."

also Proverbs 18:12 - "Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor."

But what else can we learn about pride?

Promises for the Humble

I can't get past this topic! I keep thinking we can move on to another verse or section of the Sermon on the Mount, and then I get sucked back into this word - Humility. Today I want to share with you two things:

The Webster's Dictionary definition of Humble so we know what we're aiming for...

Power of Humility

As I was researching for our post on Matthew 5:3, I noticed a trend that I thought deserved it's own entry. We were discussing what it means to be "poor in spirit," and Scripture gave us as part of that definition, to be humble. We learned that Jesus was humble, and we learned that in God's economy humility is like currency. When we are humble, He exalts us or lifts us up.

When I read through all the verses in the Bible that deal with humility, I noticed quite a trend in the Old Testament with the many kings recorded in 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles. Over the years, Israel and Judah had many earthly kings. Some were good, and some were bad. Some started out good, and ended badly, and others started out horrible, and ended well. Humility was a huge factor as God judged those kings. Let's take a look...

Yesterday's Homework

Yesterday we learned some hard truths about relationships and I hope that you have had time to meditate on them. Have you had the chance to make any apologies to anyone yet? One of the hardest parts of apologizing is mustering up the humility to just do it. Our pride gets awfully big, and awfully in our way in moments like those. If you're struggling with humility, hopefully today's teaching will help.

We're going to break down Matthew 5:3 today, and travel all over Scripture to gain understanding about this key verse. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs."

You Got a Problem With Me?

Relationships can be hard. They're often messy, frustrating, and sometimes even volatile. You won't find one perfect family out there. In every family there are conflicts that run the gamut between periods of silence at the very least, through passive-aggressive banter, cold shoulders, to rifts and all out blowups.

There's always one aunt who isn't talking to that cousin because she overheard his wife call her fat, or a mother who refuses to accept the fact that her daughter-in-law really can manage a household without her input. There's a brother whose lack of career motivation frustrates his ladder climbing siblings and a divorced grandfather who moved away and nobody seems to even acknowledge is even still alive.

Besides all of that, there are the daily battles waging between husbands and wives, parents and children, siblings...then we're supposed to duplicate all this "relating" at church with our church family too?

Seasoned to Taste

Some people will pour salt and pepper on their entire plate of food before even tasting a bite as if they have some kind of fear of flavor. One time, I asked a family member as they were dumping salt on their food pre-dining, why they make this a habit. They assured me they could not taste the food without the salt.

Seriously? This is important.

I've heard it said that life is too important to be taken seriously, and I have no idea what that means, but I do know that life can feel too serious most of the time. Especially in today's economy, climate, political quagmire, everywhere we turn, important things are seriously messed up.

The amazing thing is that spiritually speaking, THIS life, THESE important things, are just a blip...our childhood...and REAL life doesn't even begin until we're long gone from this one. If we can maintain the proper perspective, the troubles of this life become not only manageable but light. In the scope of eternity, what is today?