Salty Motherhood

“We are called to link arms in community, in large quantities, to be salt of the earth to impact the growth of the Kingdom of God in the fields He plants us in.”

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.” (Matthew 5:13, ESV)

The fifth chapter of Matthew opens with the Sermon on the Mount, starting with the beatitudes. I personally like to think of the beatitudes as the “be”attitudes, ten verses that remind me what my attitude ought to be, especially if I want to receive God’s blessing! They are instructions on how Christ followers should live, how we should be set apart and different from the world, so we can start to make a difference in the world.

Immediately after these reminders, Jesus teaches us that the best and most effective way to do these things is to be the salt of the earth. That’s what He calls us to do. (Matthew 5:13)

He commissions us to be salty, and more importantly, to stay salty. We live in a world that threatens to steal our joy and suck the saltiness right out of us every single day.

My pastor once said, “The more salt we give to those around us, the thirstier they will be for the Living Water!” And while that statement may not be theologically accurate, it is metaphorically effective in painting a picture to illustrate the point of being salt and light is to draw others around us to Christ.

When I looked a little more closely (theologically) at this passage and one similar to it in Luke (Luke 14:34-35), I began to understand (in context) that salt was much more than a seasoning or preservative to be used in culinary ways, it was a fertilizer and disinfectant to be used agriculturally as well. 

Scientifically, different types of salt (sodium chloride or potassium chloride) can cause good things to grow or bad things to slow. 

We are called to link arms in community, in large quantities, to be salt of the earth to impact the growth of the Kingdom of God in the fields He plants us in. When we do, we will see the growth of good things and slow the growth of bad things.

Mama, your primary mission field is your home. Keep planting seeds of faith in your kids. Keep watering them with the Word of God. Keep fertilizing them by being salt of the earth. Promote the growth of godly principles by raising disciples. 

Slow the growth of worldly ways by keeping the lies of the enemy at bay. Fertilize the good. Disinfect the bad.

Stay salty in every season of motherhood. 

Action Step: 

• Read Matthew 5:1-16 and Luke 14:25-35. Think about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Following Him should truly change the way we live. What things need to change in your heart and home as you seek to stay salty and cause the good things you see in your kids to grow and bad things to slow?

• You can do this more easily in community. Do life with others who are like-minded. There is strength is numbers. 

Prayer: Father, thank You for calling me to be salt of the earth. I know that starts in my home, and I desire to honor You by the way I tend to the field of motherhood. Help me be salt in my kids’ lives by promoting the growth of godly things and slowing the growth of things that pull them away from You. I want to honor You in my motherhood. I know things are more caught than taught, so let me be salt to my kids first that we, as a family, might impact the kingdom of God in the world around us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Written by Tabitha, a salty mom, staying salty by the Word of God

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