There are a lot of people on this planet. Several billion at last count. And one of them is you. With your history, hopes, and present, uniquely placed in the here and now.

You are the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13

Not the saffron—an expensive spice, rare and rarely used. Not the sugar—ruiner of appetites, teeth, and waistlines. The salt. Powerful, necessary. Needed to flavor the food you eat, as a preservative, a cleaner, a de-icer, and myriad other things. Wars have been fought over salt. People have lost their lives in pursuit of salt. And according to Jesus, you’re it.

But if that salt (you) loses it’s flavor, it’s no longer good for anything. All of those things the salt was able to do, gone. The rest of Matthew 5:13 says that such salt gets “thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” Which is probably not what the salt had in mind as it’s God-given purpose.

Many people work hard to check the boxes of what they believe they should be doing. Wearing so many hats that they look like they’re a character in a Dr. Seuss book. But who is under all those elegantly styled chapeaus? Just as salt can lose its flavor, we can lose ourselves. Whether it’s in work or family life, perceptions of what others expect from us or circumstances that are beyond our control—we can forget who we are, who created us. And when you lose that foundation of self, you can easily find yourself trampled by others.

Grab hold of your flavor, what you know is true. God made you. God is for you. God has a mission in mind for you. And God will be with you, no matter what.

Salt doesn’t have just one use. Like you aren’t created for a single role in life. Daughter, sister, wife, mother. Friend, confidant, supporter, truth-teller. Household manager, business woman. We have the potential to be all these things. We have been purposed by our God to be many of them. But when we forget what makes us us, that’s when we begin to lose that potential.

Dr. Seuss himself provides a great restatement of Matthew 5:13: “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” So go out there and be you!

What is one thing you can do today to strengthen your sense of self?
(Create a personal mission statement? Create a life goals list? Brainstorm a list of your strengths and passions? Take a spiritual gifts assessment?)