“Blessed are the poor in spirit for there is the kingdom of heaven”. (Matt 5:3).

In some parts of North India, when a visitor arrives, they will, first of all, give him something very salty to eat, and a glass of water. In doing this they say to the visitor, ‘we receive and welcome you, and we give this to show our love to you”. Thus salt stands for true and fervent love. True love can only be shown by believers. When the Lord Jesus Christ says, “Ye are the salt of the earth’, he means that through you He wants His eternal life to be shown, declared and preached wherever you go. People of many races, speaking more than 1,155 languages, have received that same love through those who are born again. People of all conditions, like cannibals, murderers and thieves, who had been absolutely rejected by society, are now testifying to others of God’s love.

Earthly love is dependent on earthly conditions; but divine love goes deeper under every circumstance. The Lord said, ‘Love your enemies! What wonderful salt! The persons who hate us and curse us can be loved by us. We can love them not only to give them temporary relief from their suffering, but to make them partakers of the same love for eternity. We can offer people something for eternity, wherever they may be. As we come in contact with them, we will be able to give them the real taste of divine salt. We see in verse 3 of Matthew 5, how we can be made such true salt. We must have a humble, broken and contrite spirit. That is the first stage in the purification of salt.