I’ve lived on the gulf coast of the United States my entire life. I was born in South Louisiana and spent most of my early life there. One of the staples of Louisiana culture is food. From fried seafood, to classics like gumbo and red beans and rice, the food in Louisiana will change your life. It will also make you a pretty harsh critic of food outside the state.

I moved to Texas almost 9 years ago and one thing I’ve come to understand is Louisiana culture has extended its way west. Many of the same dishes I enjoyed growing up can be found right here just a 4 hour drive down interstate 10. On top of that I fell in love with TexMex food. I love chips and salsa, fajitas, and fresh flour tortillas. One thing both states have in common is our food is not without flavor, and for that I am thankful.

Over the course of my life I’ve also had the opportunity to travel away from Louisiana and Texas and experience other states' cuisine. Lobster on the East coast is one that sticks out in my mind. I figured it would be like a large boiled crawfish but boy was I mistaken. The lobster itself was fine but what it lacked was flavor. It was actually pretty bland and the cooks could have definitely used some crawfish boil added to their pot. Properly seasoned it would have been fantastic.

In Matthew chapter 5 Jesus uses an analogy to help us understand how we should act as Christians-an analogy that we can all relate to. We are to be the salt of the earth. There should be a certain noticeable difference when you look at how we live, just as there is a noticeable difference between Louisiana crawfish and Lobster on the east coast. Matthew 5:13 says, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

As Christians we are the salt to this world. We are the flavor that people need to experience. It is only by letting them taste and see that life is better lived with the Spirit we have inside us. There’s only one way for them to know-we have to let them see it in us!