The Right Answer

“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:6

We have all been in situations where someone has said something to us or asked us a question and we had a difficult time finding just the right answer. Sometimes we think of what we should have said later on, after our opportunity has passed. Unfortunately, these moments are an unavoidable part of the human experience, but the passage above gives us two guidelines to help us choose an answer when we are put to the test. First, our words should be gracious. Abrasive, sarcastic, or hurtful words might give us a temporary feeling of power or control; but they are a poor testimony and do more harm than good. Second, our speech should be seasoned with salt. This seems to refer to words that are spiritually challenging in nature. Jesus gave us an excellent example of a gracious, spiritual answer when the Pharisees asked whether it were lawful to pay tribute to Caesar. They were trying to trick Jesus into saying something that would be unpopular with the people. Jesus asked them to show him a piece of money. When he asked them, “Whose image and superscription is this?” they said, “Caesar’s.” Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). Jesus’ answer was gracious, but it contained a powerful spiritual message. “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).