THE PERMANENT SALT

I was making food the other day and I poured too much oil in the food and when I realised there was too much oil, I poured some of the oil out without any struggle. See that’s the good thing about using oil. So when it got to adding salt to it, I was very careful. Why? Because when you put too much salt in your food, there is no way you can take it out. You can’t wash it out, you can’t find it to take out. You’d be left with salty food. What the Holy Spirit was trying to teach me that day was the similarity between putting to much salt in a food and saying something you can’t take back.

There’s a lot of things you do that has a reverse button. You can give someone something and you can go and ask for it back (I pray that no one asks me for anything back cause wow don’t do me like that). See you can go to a place and if you don’t want to be there, you can go back home. What you can’t do is say something and take it back. Sometimes we say things and then we say “actually I take it back”…where are you taking it back to? It’s already out there chilling. I have come to understand that you need to think when you speak. When typing something, it’s calm to backspace it but when it’s in person, it’s more difficult. I have these two friends that when they used to argue or disagree with each other, my anxiety levels increases. This is because they used to just speak without thinking so I just always used to think “this is the day their friendship sinks”. But glory to God and to growth, they have learnt to think before they speak.

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 18:21 that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” The meaning of this verse is that what you say will either make or break a person or even yourself. And also, whatever you end up saying has a consequence. I remember in secondary school this guy told me that a teacher told him he will never make it in life so he should quit. He was discouraged because that is definitely something that will dim your confidence. If you have nothing positive to say, just don’t say it because words are like boomerang; it goes and does the damage and it returns back to you with the consequences.

I’ll end it with this verse from Proverbs 13:3, “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.” Look at who you are talking to before you speak. The jokes I make with my siblings won’t be the same jokes I make with strangers. Be mindful of what comes out because you don’t want to end up with a salty meal. May God bless you.

Prayer: Our Heavenly Father we thank you today. We thank you for your grace and mercies upon our lives. God please help us when we speak. Help us know the right things to say and things not to say. Let our words always build up people not bring them down. We give you praise, in Jesus name we pray with thanksgiving, amen.