Marietjie

Salt is not only a preservative but can also be used to disinfect wounds. Christians should disinfect society from selfishness, immorality, drug abuse, depression and so much more. The only way to do that is by sharing the love of Jesus Christ with people all around us, and to stand up for what is right according to God's Word and His plan. If you put a teaspoon salt in a jug of water, every single drop of water in that jug will have the taste of salt. We as Christians should live our lives in a way that every single person will get to know the Lord Jesus. We should affect all aspects of society. We can have a downwards influence to those 'under' us - gardener, employee, student etc. Then we can influence those 'next to' us - spouse, colleague, friend, sibling, neighbour etc. We can aso have an influence 'upwards' - a parent, manager, teacher, officer etc.

When you are persecuted it means you have done something "wrong". Of course we know that it is only wrong in the eyes of the world. In God's eyes it is somethig worth a reward, which we wil receive in heaven. Therefore we should rejoice and carry on doing good in God's eyes. The pleasure of knowing that we are going through what our Lord and Saviour himself went through on the cross, should make us jump for joy despite the pain. He was also persecuted for doing right, for being innocent. He set the perfect example for us, what makes us better than Him...? If we are persecuted for the sake of God's name, He will reward us with a heavenly reward, not an earthly one. God considered the apostles "worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus" (Act 5:41), so He cares for those who suffer for His sake. If you get persecuted for doing something wrong you gain nothing, but if you suffer for doing something good, God will bless you (1 Pet 2:20)

People with a pure heart long to obey and follow Jesus. He says that the Father will come and live in those who love Him and obey Him (Joh 14:23). The Holy Spirit is in control of a pure heart and He teaches us about the Father (Joh 14:26) so we can see and know Him. God is holy and He hates sin. If there is unconfessed sin, as is the case with chronic sinners, it causes seperation between them and God. If you live in the darkness of sin you cannot and will not see God. God's children also sin, but not on purpose and they confess it everytime, unlike those who are chronic sinners. Only God himself can purify our hearts and therefore we need to ask Him to do so (Jer 9:7). We cannot be pure out of ourselves as man is sinful by nature.

The desire to always do what is right and not to compromise on that, is not something the world understands. "Everybody is doing it" does not mean it is not wrong, but the world seems to think because it is commonly done, it is acceptable. That is just because they do not know what is right and wrong in God's eyes. His rules are the only rules. The righteousness Jesus talks about, I think, is to be in the right relationship with God the Father. To be righteous does not mean to never sin, but it is the desire to please God and be obedient to Him. The first step to that is to accept Him as your Lord and Saviour and then start to follow Him.