A Lesson from Salt

One memory that sticks in my mind after eight decades is of the many desserts that my mother made when I was growing up on an Illinois farm. Although I’m sure my older brother and sister enjoyed them as well, for me, it seems that anything sweet was very nearly an addiction. There always was a saltshaker on our table, but I seldom used it as I had no attraction to salt in those early years.

When I first started to read the Bible, I was puzzled about Jesus’ reference to salt no longer tasting like salt (Matthew 5:13). As far as I knew, sugar always tasted sweet and salt always tasted like, well… like salt. Some years later, I finally decided to really study the matter and find out. What did Jesus want us to learn from His statement, “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”?

Several commentaries had a ready explanation. Scholar and theologian Albert Barnes had this comment on Matthew 5:13: “In eastern countries… the salt used was impure, or mingled with vegetable or earthy substances, so that it might lose the whole of its saltness, and a considerable quantity of earthy matter remain. This was good for nothing, except that it was used to place in paths, or walks, as we use gravel” (Barnes’ Notes on the Old and New Testaments: Matthew, 2025, p. 93).

This caused me to wonder about salt in our grocery stores. I was very surprised to find as many as eight different additives in various brands of table salt. Even my old favorite, sugar (which I have given up), was in several brands, though labeled as “dextrose.”

With a little research, I found this quote from the largest salt exporter in Turkey: “[T]able salts with additives can lose their flavor and texture over time. Refined table salts contain iodine to enhance flavor and health properties and anti-caking agents that protect it from clumping. These additives degrade over time” (“How Long Does Salt Keep Its Flavor?,” koyuncusalt.com, April 2, 2021).

Website “Cook’n” has this information: “Being hygroscopic is a big deal for salt because this leads to clumping and making it hard to use. This attribute also means it is prone to absorbing, moisture, strong odors, or contaminants…. Once it’s contaminated, the taste nose-dives and there’s no recovery” (“What We Want to Do is Store it Properly—For the LONG HAUL!,” dvo.com, January 23, 2026).

Now I knew how salt could lose its flavor, and how this metaphor could be applied to Jesus’ listeners; the salt then, just as now, could change and even lose its quality. Likewise, everyone can develop some qualities that are not the best. If anyone loses the good qualities Jesus describes in the preceding verses (Matthew 5:2–9), they also will be of less value.

For example, if the salt is not stored correctly, it can pick up odors and therefore it can become contaminated. And people can easily pick up bad qualities from those whom they are associated with, as in mentioned in Proverbs (Proverbs 1:10–19; Proverbs 13:20).

Park City Culinary Institute mentions salt is more than just a seasoning; “It doesn’t simply make food salty; it transforms how flavors are perceived, balances bitterness, and amplifies sweetness…” (“Science of Seasoning: How Salt Enhances Flavor,” parkcityculinaryinstitute.com, December 21, 2025). As the salt of the earth, Jesus meant that His listeners should benefit the world, just as salt benefits and improves food (Proverbs 3:27; Galatians 6:9, 10).

The Apostle Paul taught the congregation in Colosse one proper use of “salt.” He said they can improve their conversations if their speech was “seasoned” (Colossians 4:6)!

The physical salt you use, and how you take care of it, is a matter of knowing your seasonings and how to store them. The “salt” Jesus spoke of, however, is a far deeper matter, and having good and uplifting conversation is just one of the many ways you can apply it!

Learn more about avoiding the ways of this world, and turn that knowledge into useful “seasoning” to benefit others, just as Jesus instructed. Read the helpful Tomorrow’s World magazine articles “The Enduring Quality of Kindness”, “Greed vs. God”, and “Why Believe in Promises?,’” and be sure to order or read online your free copy of What Is a True Christian?