Salt and Light

"You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world... let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." — Matthew 5:13-16 NIV 

I want this so badly — to be salt that hasn't lost its flavor and light that isn't hidden under a basket. The Beatitudes that come just before this verse aren't a behavior checklist that I can master through effort. Poor in spirit, meek, hungering for righteousness, pure in heart — these are heart postures, and they're deeply countercultural. The world tells me to be strong, self-sufficient, and assertive. Jesus says blessed are the poor in spirit and the meek. I can't fake my way into that. It has to be who I am becoming, not a role I perform. 

And here's my honest confession — I fail at this regularly. There are days my salt goes flat, when I blend into the culture around me instead of preserving and flavoring it differently. There are days my light dims because living out these countercultural values costs more than I want to pay in the moment. Sixty-plus years following Him, and I still catch myself trying to adjust my behavior instead of inviting the Holy Spirit to shape my heart. 

What if…today we ask God to continue shaping the heart of the Beatitudes in us.

A Prayer

Father, we want to be salt and light in this world, but we know our failures more than we’d like to admit. Shape our hearts with the values of the Beatitudes. Where we've gone flat or dim, restore us. 

Let's do this together.