DAY 21

CONVERSATIONS

JENNY NITZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE WOODS CHURCH

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. —Colossians 4:6

Earlier this year, the Lord gave me this scripture with great clarity of when and where to use it. I had been newly appointed to the Warren Woods Public School Board a few months earlier and was excited for the opportunity of greater leadership and contribution to my community. My kids had all finished high school, and my husband is a teacher, so I’ve been around our school district for more than 20 years. When a position on the school board came up unexpectedly, my prayer was “Lord, if this is where you want me, you’ll need to make a way”. And He did. I have loved working alongside the administrators, and other board members and teachers. The world can be a dark place, and that’s why believers need to be the light.

In my quiet time with the Lord one morning, the scripture in Colossians jumped out at me. It is my heart's desire to have my conversations be “full of grace, seasoned with salt” so that I could “know how to answer everyone.” Paul wrote this while he was in prison. He was sending the Colossians a letter with specific instructions on practical theology for day-to-day living. In the previous chapters, Paul addresses the supremacy of Christ, warnings against false teaching and Christian conduct. Right at the end, in chapter 4, my Bible has the heading “Further Instructions” and it begins with verse 2: “Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which

I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (emphasis mine). I love that Paul spends the majority of the book of Colossians talking about the Christian life, but at the end gives the charge to the people of how they should interact with those that don’t know Jesus.

Is our conversation with non-believers full of grace? I love that Paul lists that first, because we will often turn people away to the rest of what we’re saying if we aren’t initially full of grace. And then seasoned with salt - because everything is better with a little seasoning, right? The last half of the verse is the kicker “so that you may know how to answer everyone”. We aren’t meant to have gracious conversations just to be kind, but to point people towards Jesus.

I’ve made it a practice to sit in my car when I’m in the parking lot for a school board meeting and recite Colossians 4:6 before I go in. I am well aware that the Lord has given me this opportunity to influence, and I want to honor Him well. When I walk in, I want my conversation with others to be full of grace and seasoned with salt so that I know how to answer people. It has started with school board meetings, but the Lord has shown me so many other places to implement the same practice. I would bet the Lord will show you how to implement the same thing. Be gracious, season your words with salt and point people to Jesus.

PRAYER

Jesus, I want to be a light in this dark world. Please open my eyes to the opportunities you’ve given me to influence, to love, and to share you with those around me. Keep my heart aligned with Yours so that my words and actions are a direct reflection of You. Thank you for Your goodness to me, amen.