Don't Lose Your Flavour: Small Acts That Make a Big Difference

Why Your Influence Matters

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men."

(Matthew 5:13)

Seasoning Your Spaces

Jesus' statement is filled with expectation.

Salt has been used for flavouring and

preservation for thousands of years, and its healing and cleansing properties are recognised in cultures across the globe.

To preserve meat or fish, salt must come into direct contact with it. It only makes a difference when added to other ingredients, and even a pinch can change or enhance the taste. Similarly, we must maintain direct and continual contact with others to have influence. We can’t simply remain in the jar and pray from a distance.

It is easier to blend in and compromise. But mixtures lose their influence!

If you’re a follower of Jesus, you are part of the solution. You are expected to stop or slow the decay. You are not meant to be influenced by the culture—your presence is meant to influence and change the culture.

Salt loses its flavour when overshadowed by dominant ingredients. You become ineffective when you blend into the world.

Mixture is not our mandate! Your life is intended to point others to Him. You are meant to be salty—not flavourless and trampled.

Seeing the Opportunities

On Sunday morning, we stopped by a convenience store to get some coffee. A bent-over Tatay hobbled by with a limp. (Tatay is a Filipino word for father and a respectful term for elderly men.) Our son asked him if he was hungry and led him inside to buy him a hot breakfast.

(My father-in-law used to work at a stall repairing shoes by hand under a roadside umbrella near the market. Every Tatay we feed or buy from on the street is in honour and memory of him.)

Faith with Flavour - Live it out intentionally!

As we turned back onto the road with our coffees, a girl crossed in front of our car carrying a plastic box with banana turon (a sweet snack with a caramelised deep-fried spring roll wrapper served on a kebab stick for easy munching).

My husband rolled down the window. She is a sixth-grade student selling them to fund her school project. He asked how many she had left because we would buy them all. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she counted 18 freshly cooked sticks into a plastic bag pulled from her pocket. They were still steaming and crispy.

She thought she would spend all day as a street vendor to buy her school materials. She couldn't contain her excitement, jumping and squealing with delight. She waved as we pulled away, and my eyes filled with tears.

Just seven minutes in a parking space.

I whispered a humbled prayer: How many opportunities have I missed, Lord?

How many times were my eyes fixed on the wrong things, causing me to overlook moments to change someone’s day?

Your Influence List

The average person has more than 100 interactions with different people each week. That is a vast field of influence. How many people do you have regular access to?

Consider your family, classmates, coworkers, neighbours, and club or team members. This is where you have connection, influence, and responsibility, yet most of us fail to change the flavour of the rooms we occupy or the conversations we engage in.

We are all missing countless opportunities. Your presence and contact are needed right now—it's not the time to withdraw, hold back, disappear, or wait for someone else. It is our moment to open our eyes and respond like Jesus. We don't just maintain the standard; our lives should raise it.

Learn to influence with quiet acts of faithfulness

We can’t be a diluted mixture of contradictions and hypocrisy. It's useless to sing our songs on Sunday and walk the street blindly later. Mercy and compassion aren't things to pray for - they are every day encounters to live out right now.

It's not complicated to add a touch of flavour. Just look up and see the opportunity standing beside you.

🌿What does it mean for you personally to be “salt” in your community, family, or workplace?

🌸Are there small, consistent ways you can influence your surroundings for good — even without words?

🌍How might God be inviting you to preserve what is good and bring out the best in others?

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