In this final episode of the Beatitudes series, Salt and Light, we bring it all together with what Jesus said about who we are. He called us the salt of the earth and the light of the world. That is identity. It speaks to how we live and how we show up in the world around us.

We walk through what that means in a real way. Salt preserves and keeps things from breaking down. Light makes things visible. As we live out what we have seen in the Beatitudes, our lives begin to carry that same effect. There is a difference in how we speak, how we respond, and how we move through everyday situations.

This episode ties our identity to our responsibility. It is about being seen in a way that reflects Christ in how we live, not just what we say. The way we live has an impact, and it points people toward truth and hope.

This is a call to live it out. Not in a forced way, but in a real way that comes from who you are.

Links referenced in this episode:

• instagram.com/livingtheselahlife
• facebook.com/groups/livingtheselahlife
• youtube.com/livingtheselahlife

The content shared on Living the Selah Life is for spiritual encouragement, personal reflection, and informational purposes only.

It is not intended to diagnose, treat or replace medical, psychological or professional advice of any kind.

Please consult a licensed healthcare provider or qualified professional for any physical, mental or emotional health concerns.

The views expressed are those of the host, Kimberly Lockanore, and are based on personal experience and Biblical insight, not clinical or professional training.

Welcome back to Living the Selah Life, a podcast that invites you to slow down, to breathe and to reconnect with the presence of God.

I'm your host, Kim, and this space is for anyone longing to become more familiar with his presence.

Each episode is an intentional pause, a moment to reflect, realign and remember that God meets us when we create space for Him.

So take a breath.

You are right on time.

Let's live the Selah life together.

Welcome back, my friends, to Living the Selah Life.

In our last episode, we explored the eighth Beatitude.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness.

We discovered that suffering for Jesus is blessed because it confirms that we're living as Kingdom citizens in a hostile world.

Today, we're looking at what comes immediately after the Beatitudes.

In Matthew, chapter 5, verses 13 through 16, you are the salt of the earth.

You are the light of the world.

Jesus moves from describing what Kingdom citizens are like to describing their impact on the world.

We'll discover what it means to be salt and light, how these images connect to the Beatitudes, and how we live out our Kingdom identity in the world.

We will call this week's main teaching Salt and Light.

Living it out after the Beatitudes Original right Matthew, chapter 5, verses 13 through 16 again says, you are the salt of the earth.

But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

You are the light of the world.

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Love that passage of Scripture.

These verses follow directly after the Beatitudes.

Jesus has just described what Kingdom citizens are like.

Poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemaking, persecuted.

Now he describes their impact.

The connection is important.

You don't become salt and light by trying to be influential or by attempting to change culture through your own efforts.

You become salt and light by being who Jesus described in the Beatitudes.

When the Holy Spirit produces his character in you, when you live as a kingdom citizen, you naturally influence the world around you.

Jesus does not say, try to be salt or work to become light.

He says, you are salt and you are light.

This is your identity as his follower.

Salt in the ancient world serves several purposes, and in our world today as well.

It preserved food.

In times before refrigeration, it added flavor to food, and it was valuable.

Sometimes used as currency, it was essential for life.

The word phos p h o s, which is what light means in Greek, describes physical light, the light of the sun, a lamp of fire.

It also describes spiritual light, truth, revelation, God's presence.

Light exposes what is hidden in darkness.

It guides people who are lost, and it makes it possible to see clearly.

Jesus uses both images to describe his followers influence in the world.

Each image reveals a different aspect of how kingdom citizens affect the culture around them.

When Jesus says, you are the salt of the earth, he is describing your preserving and flavoring influence as salt.

Believers slow moral decay in the world.

Your presence restrains evil, your righteousness challenges sin.

Your adherence to God's standards preserves what's good in culture.

You are a force against corruption and against the decay that comes when God is rejected.

This preserving function explains why Jesus blesses those who are persecuted.

When you function as salt, preserving what's good, resisting what's evil, you provoke opposition from those who love darkness.

Salt also adds flavor.

Believers make life richer, fuller, more satisfying for those around them.

Your joy in the Lord, your peace in spite of circumstances, your love for others, these add something beautiful to the world.

Salt also creates thirst.

When unbelievers see your life, your peace, your joy, your love, your hope, they can become thirsty for what you have.

Your life creates desire for God and people who didn't know they were spiritually thirsty.

First Peter, chapter 3, verses 15, says, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who ask you a reason for the hope that is in you.

When your life displays supernatural hope, people ask questions, and your saltiness creates a spiritual thirst.

Jesus also warns, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

Salt that loses its saltiness is worthless.

It can't preserve, it can't flavor, and it really serves no purpose.

Believers who lose their distinctive character can become useless for Kingdom purposes.

When we live like the world, when we adopt worldly values, when we pursue the same things unbelievers pursue with the same motives, we can lose our saltiness.

We no longer preserve anything because we're participating in the decay.

Jesus says, salt that's lost its flavor is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

Your value as a Kingdom citizen comes from your distinctive character.

When you lose that distinctiveness, you lose your influence.

And this warning should create some kind of urgency to guard your saltiness.

Maintain your distinctive character, and do not let the world squeeze you into its mold.

Stay different.

Jesus also says, you are the light of the world.

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

As light believers expose darkness even when you're not trying to.

Your righteousness makes unrighteousness extremely visible.

Your truth exposes lies, and your life becomes a living rebuke to those who love darkness.

This is why John 3:19 20 says, People love darkness and hate the light because the light exposes their deeds.

Your presence as light makes people uncomfortable because you reveal things that they may want to keep hidden.

This exposure is necessary, though people cannot repent if they do not recognize as light.

You also guide people toward God.

You point them to the truth.

You show them the way to Jesus.

You illuminate the path that they should walk.

Jesus says, a city on a hill cannot be hidden when you're living as a kingdom citizen.

People do notice.

Jesus also says, no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket.

A lamp's purpose is to give light.

Hiding it completely defeats the purpose.

Your purpose as a believer is to shine, hiding your faith, concealing your conviction.

These defeat your purpose.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

You're not supposed to hide your light.

You're supposed to let it shine so people can see it.

And this is not about drawing attention to yourself.

The goal is not that people glorify you.

The goal is that they glorify your Father in heaven.

Your light points to its source, God.

When people see your good works, they should recognize that God is at work in you.

The key is that your light shines through your good works, not just through your words.

James chapter 2, verses 18 says, show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

People need to see faith lived out, not just proclaimed.

They need to see the God that you served manifested, not just talked about.

Before calling his followers the light of the world, Jesus first identified himself as light.

John, chapter 8, verses 12, records Jesus saying, I am the light of the world.

He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.

Jesus is the source of light.

When he calls his followers the light of the world, he's saying they reflect his light.

You're like the moon, which has no light of its own, but reflects the sun's light.

You shine because Jesus shines in you.

When people see your good works and glorify God, they're recognizing that what they see in you comes from Him.

Your distinctiveness points to Jesus.

Your character reveals his character.

What does being salt and light look like in daily life?

Because being salt and light affects how we live every day.

In your workplace, you're sought when you maintain integrity, when you walk excellently, when you treat people with respect or refuse to participate in gossip or dishonesty.

And you're light when your character stands out, when people see something different in you in your neighborhood.

You're sought when you're a good neighbor, when you help those in need, when you build relationships.

And you're light when you invite people into your home, when you share your faith naturally in your family.

You're sought when you love sacrificially, when you forgive freely, when you serve humbly.

And you're light when your marriage displays Christ's love for the church, when your parenting reflects God's patience in the world.

You're sought when you stand for truth, when you advocate for justice, and when you help the poor.

You're light when you share the gospel, when you display hope in difficult times, and when you respond to opposition with love.

Jesus calls his followers to be visibly different.

You can't be salt if you're indistinguishable from what you're supposed to preserve.

And you can't be light if you're hiding in darkness.

You must be willing to stand out, to be different and to be distinctive.

And when you truly follow him, you will do that naturally, without even trying.

Jesus's use of salt and light imagery reveals that that your influence matters.

You might think your life doesn't affect many people or that you're too ordinary to make a difference.

A little salt preserves a lot of food, and a small lamp lights up an entire room.

You don't need to be famous or powerful to influence people.

You only need to Be faithful.

You need to maintain your distinctive character.

Your co workers notice your integrity.

Your neighbors see your kindness.

Your family experiences.

Your patience.

Your friends observe your peace.

Everyone you interact with is affected by your saltiness and your light, whether you know it or not.

Your faithfulness where God has placed you matters more than you know.

Keep being salt.

Keep shining your light.

Trust that God is using your distinctive character to accomplish his purposes in ways you may never fully understand.

Don't try to be influential again.

Be faithful.

Don't focus on changing culture.

Focus on being changed by the Spirit.

Don't work to make an impact.

Work to follow Jesus as you pursue him and allow the Spirit to produce his character in you.

You'll be salt and light without even trying.

You are the salt of the earth.

You are the light of the world.

Let your light shine.

We will move on to this week's pause prompts.

We will not have a Scripture spotlight this week because basically the entire first segment of this podcast was the scripture spelled out, a passage of scripture spelled out.

So we will move right on to the pause prompts.

And remember, Paul's prompts are never meant to condemn.

They are meant to see where you are are so we can see where we're going.

So let's go.

Pause prompt number one.

How distinctive is your life?

Are you visibly different from those who don't follow Jesus?

Where, if any, are you hiding your light?

What areas of your life remain hidden rather than shining for God's glory?

What good works do people see in you that point them to God?

How does your daily life create thirst for what you have?

Are you willing to pay the cost of being sought in life?

Will you maintain your distinctive character even when it provokes opposition?

How is the Spirit calling you to be salt and light in your specific context?

Your workplace, your neighborhood, your family, your church?

Remember, being salt and light is the natural result of the Holy Spirit producing kingdom character in you through living out the Beatitudes.

Let's move on into this week's Selah moment and prayer.

This is our opportunity to ask God to make us so Salt and light in the world Position yourself to receive.

You can begin by sitting comfortably and taking several slow, deep breaths.

Picture Jesus, the light of the world shining in you.

His light makes you light.

His character makes you salt.

Examining your influence, Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you're being sought in light and where you're not, where you're distinctive.

Where are you shining?

Where are you you hiding?

Acknowledge the ways, if any, that you've lost saltiness and confess the ways you've hidden your light through fear or desire for acceptance or for any other reason.

Ask the Holy Spirit to to renew you, to restore your saltiness, to make your light shine brightly again.

Let us pray.

Father, thank you for calling us to be salt and light in the world.

Thank you that as you produce Kingdom character in us, we naturally influence the world around us.

Thank you that our faithfulness in following Jesus makes us preserving and illuminating presences wherever we go.

Holy Spirit, produce in us the character that makes us salty and bright.

Work in us what Jesus described in the Beatitudes.

Make us pour in spirit those who mourn meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemaking and faithful through persecution.

As you produce these qualities.

Make us salt and light.

Forgive us for losing our saltiness.

Forgive us for conforming to the world rather than being distinctively Kingdom.

Forgive us for pursuing the same things unbelievers pursue, for adopting worldly values, for blending in when we should stand out.

Forgive us for hiding our light, for keeping our faith private with when it should be visible, for concealing our convictions to avoid opposition.

Forgive us for living in ways indistinguishable from those who don't know Jesus.

Restore our saltiness.

Make us distinctive again.

Produce in us character that preserves what's good, that flavors lives around us, that creates thirst for you.

Help us stand out as different as Kingdom citizens in a world that rejects you.

Make our light shine brightly.

Help us live visibly as your followers.

Give us courage to let people see our faith.

Produce good works in us that point beyond our ourselves to you.

Make our lives create questions that lead to conversations about Jesus.

Help us remember that we don't make ourselves salt and light.

You produce the character that make us influential.

Our responsibility is to cooperate with your work, to not hide what you're doing, to not compromise what you're producing.

Give us courage to pay the cost of being sought in light when our distinctive character provokes opposition.

Help us remain faithful.

When shining light brings hostility.

Help us keep shining.

Make us willing to be unpopular, excluded or opposed for the sake of honoring you.

Lord.

Help us stay connected to Jesus, the source of our light.

Help us remember that we shine because he shines in us.

Help us deflect attention from ourselves to you.

When people see good works in us, help us point them to you who produced those works.

Thank you that our influence matters.

Thank you that our faithfulness where you've placed us, affects people we may never see.

Thank you that a little salt preserves much and a small lamp lights a dark room.

Help us trust that you're using our distinctive character to accomplish your purposes.

Lord, make us salt that has not and will not lose its flavor.

Make us light that is not hidden under a basket.

Make us cities on a hill that cannot be hidden.

Use our lives to preserve what's good.

Let our light so shine before others that they see our good works and glorify you.

Our Father in Heaven, in the name of Jesus, the light of the world and it is so let's lean into our Selah moment.

Sam.

That is it, my friends.

Thank you for listening to Living the Selah life.

If this moment stirred something in your spirit, share it with someone who needs to be reminded to pause and to listen.

You can connect with me on Instagram, a Facebook group Not a Facebook page, a Facebook group or YouTube.

Living the Selah Life or email me your story to Living the Selah Life at Proton.

That's Living the Selah Life at P R O T O N Me.

Until next time.

Remember that God is speaking.

He wants to guide you and direct you and give you his wisdom for your life.

Create space to listen.

Be salt and light wherever he has placed you.

May you go from this place, resting, carrying the awareness that his presence is always near.

May you be rooted in the unshakable word of God, the Logos that ground you and the rhema that guides you.

May you keep rising into the life he designed for you, into purpose, into peace, into the fullness of his calling.

May your life become a living Selah, an intentional pause that reveals his presence.

It is in Jesus name that we pray, and it is so.

Selah.