Qualities that make us the salt of the earth and light of the world

ByPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 5 minutes

Welcome, dear readers, to „Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”!

 

Yesterday we talked about the fact that it is God’s nature in us that makes us the salt of the earth and the light to the world. If we reflect God’s nature in our lives, we will able to improve our society and fill it with the light of God’s truth. But if we lead a selfish life harbouring unforgiveness and bitterness and if we do not reflect God’s nature in our lives, then we will be like the salt that has lost its power and has become useless.

 

In Mathew, 5 we find 8 particular qualities that are necessary in order for us not to lose our strength:

 

« And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: „Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you » (Mathew, 5:1-12).

 

We find the following qualities in this passage of Scripture:

 

1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mathew, 5:3). This talks about dependency on God. Our lives depend on God. And since we realize our dependency, we must continually come to God and spend time with Him. This is a foundational step in becoming the salt of the earth and the light of the world; we must live a life that is totally depended on God!

 

2) Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Mathew, 5:4). Sin, unrighteousness and injustice that surround us must motivate us to pray and mourn before God, to stand in the gap for our land. It must motivate us to repent of the sins and unrighteousness of our nation. When we look at the things around us with God’s eyes, then everything that grieves God will grieve us as well. This is where passion is born and a vision for change is conceived.

 

3) Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Mathew, 5:5). A meek person is the person who submits his will to God’s Word and God’s will. Meekness is the quality that implies submission to a higher authority, submission to the laws of God. For a meek person, God and His will is the main law and authority.

 

4) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled (Mathew, 5:6). This verse tells us we need to thirst and hunger for God, the relationships with Him, the revelations of His ways and the nature hidden in us. We must thirst for a deeper understanding of God’s ways, and we must learn His ways. If that is how we live, then we will truly be the salt and the light to our society.

 

5) Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Mathew, 5:7). It talks here about showing mercy to the people around us. When we help the people that have many needs and problems, we show to the world that our God is merciful and compassionate. We can reflect God’s love by our actions.

 

6) Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Mathew, 5:8). Here it talks about the importance of having a pure heart. We need to keep our hearts clean from any filth. We must have pure motives in all that we do. It is possible to do right things, but not have pure motives. We can only be the salt and the light to the world if we have pure hearts and pure motives.

 

7) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Mathew, 5:9).

 

We should be the people who seek peace and spread peace and not strife around us. We should seek to improve the relationships between people, instead of creating confusion and complications. We must be the people that seek to reconcile people one to another. Our job is to spread around us the atmosphere of peace and unity.

 

8) Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mathew, 5:10-11).

 

If a person wants to be an ambassador for God, the salt and the light to the earth, he or she must be tough and able to deal with the difficulties in life, bear pain, sufferings and injustice, while enjoying life. We must be the people who have joy despite of trials and temptations, and not complain about life and wail in depression, because we know that God is in control and our whole life depends on Him alone. If we will set our hearts on developing these 8 qualities, we will gain power that helps us to salt the earth with God’s righteousness and truth.

 

We will continue to talk more on this tomorrow. Please do not forget that you are the salt to the earth and the light to the world!

Be blessed!

Pastor Rufus Ajiboye

 

Similar Posts

  • God doesn’t want us to give up! III

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 3 minutes
    First of all, God ”will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able”. Maybe you don´t even feel that He is keeping all your situations under control but as a matter of fact, He has already set the limit of your hardships. God will not let things, that are above what you can bear, enter your life. You probably underestimate your own strength, but God knows better. When your reasoning is right you prevail over hardships. God will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, so you can overcome all difficulties in life – that´s the idea you should feed your mind with.

    First of all, God ”will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able”. Maybe you don´t even feel that He...

  • Lust brings sin, and sin brings death II

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 3 minutes
    Lust is excessive appetite for something. For example, uncontrollable sexual desire leads to rape, fornication, adultery and different types of sexual perversion. It can also lead to sexual illnesses, sometimes incurable. Moreover, feelings of guilt, depression, suicidal tendencies, breaking up of marriages, sufferings of children, violence, hatred and other similar things are often the result of sexual lust. Lust can also be experienced in the area of finances, drinking or eating. It all has brought pain and suffering to many people in the form of some addiction: alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling, stealing, treachery, murder etc.

    Lust is excessive appetite for something. For example, uncontrollable sexual desire leads to rape, fornication...

  • What else does God use in order to make necessary changes in us?

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    1. God changes us through accountability.In order to change us, God often subordinates us to a person we have to give an account to. A person without responsibility is blind to see his own level of arrogance, rebellion and selfishness he has to get over. Accountability is a kind of protection from misbelief and self-deception for us.

    1. God changes us through accountability. In order to change us, God often subordinates us to a person we have to...

  • Why do people choose to be irresponsible?

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 6 minutes
    If you want to learn to be responsible, the first thing you need to overcome is fear on all levels of your life. It is absolutely necessary to grow in being bold and courageous. Bible says that the only fear we can have is the fear of God. The fear of God releases us from all other fear, especially the fear of men. The fear of men brings bondage.«The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe» (Proverbs, 29:25).

    If you want to learn to be responsible, the first thing you need to overcome is fear on all levels of your life...

  • Temptations or trials are a kind of test or exam

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 3 minutes
    If you arm yourself with the knowledge that problems and trials are a test to all of us, and once it´s passed we receive a certain reward from God, then a holy desire to win given by God will be awaken within you. None of you is born willing to be a loser in this life. We all desire to win, but no win where is no battle. For the problems and trials are those battles we either get defeated or celebrate the victory at. Going through hardships and pain in our life, we better understand the price, Jesus paid for our salvation. «…you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings…».

    If you arm yourself with the knowledge that problems and trials are a test to all of us, and once it´s passed we...

  • Wisdom of a man and wisdom of God

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    There are a wisdom of this world and God´s wisdom. God´s wisdom differs from the wisdom of this world the way that it´s hidden until the God Himself reveals it to the people. As for the wisdom of this world, that´s a human wisdom gained using five methods of perception, or sense: hearing, sight, touch, smell, and taste, which are the natural channels used to gain a knowledge.Differently from God´s wisdom that exists for our glory, the wisdom of a man once passes away. The Bible says, that «the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men», even more His wisdom is. God´s wisdom is much higher than the wisdom of a man.

    There are a wisdom of this world and God´s wisdom. God´s wisdom differs from the wisdom of this world the way...