Have Saltness

Mark 9:50

Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

I am a salt lover. As a boy, I often asked for the salt shaker so I could salt my food, but my mother always told me to taste the food before I salted it. Because I loved salt so much, I took a small bite and then asked for the salt shaker, because the taste of salt just made the food better.

God says the believer is to have salt in themselves. In other words, the believer is to have the taste of Christ in their lives. When He says to have salt in yourselves, he is saying that your life is to have the flavor of being a Christian. So what is the flavor or saltness of the believer?

First, it is living a holy life. You cannot live a holy life without your life giving off the taste that you belong to Christ. One of the greatest reasons many have no influence for Christ is because their lives give off a worldly taste. I live a holy life not to bring attention to myself, but I live a holy life so that my life points people to Christ. Holy living has nothing to do with me, but everything to do with Christ. I belong to Him, and my life should resemble it. People should be able to look at how I live, dress, talk, and think, and know that I have been with Christ. After Jesus ascended to Heaven; people took notice that the disciples had been with Jesus. When you have salt in yourself, people will take notice of your life and will say about you that you have been with Jesus.

Second, having salt in yourself gives you a passion for the lost. Interestingly, before Jesus talks about having salt in yourselves, He talked about Hell. The believer who has salt in themselves is the believer whose life will try to reach every lost soul they can reach. They will live a holy life to point people to Christ, and they will live that holy life so they can be a better testimony as they witness for Christ to keep people from going to Hell. You will always be a better soul winner when you have salt, the flavor of Christ, in yourself.

Third, having salt in yourself means your life will have the fruit of the Spirit in it. It is the Holy Spirit who flavors your life with His fruit. When the Holy Spirit empowers you, His fruit will be evidenced in your life. Look at Galatians 5:22-23, and you will see what salt in your life will look like, and what actions will come from your life.

Now, the key to having salt in yourself is found in this phrase: if the salt have lost his saltness. Saltness is the pit from where salt is obtained. Your life should be such an influence that it helps others to live their lives with salt in themselves. You should be the salt pit that causes others to live a life with salt in themselves. In other words, your life should leave salt everywhere you go. When you enter a place, the atmosphere should change because you have saltness in yourself. When you leave a place, that place should be a better place because you have saltness in yourself.

President Woodrow Wilson tells the story of how he was getting a haircut when a powerful personality entered the room, so powerful that the cussing stopped and people changed their conversation. That personality was D.L. Moody. Moody lived his life with saltness, and it changed the places he went to. When you have saltness, places will change when you enter and leave them.