Colossians 4:1-6: in context

Near the end of his letter, Paul gives practical counsel. Masters are to treat their servants justly, remembering they too have a Master in heaven. He urges the church to continue steadfastly in prayer, watchful and thankful, and to pray that a door might open for the gospel. And he turns to how they are to live among those outside the faith: walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the time; let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer each person.

The counsel about speech is worth dwelling on: let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt. Paul asks for two things at once, and both matter. Speech is to be gracious, marked by kindness, warmth, and winsomeness, not harsh or combative or off-putting; the way we speak to those outside the faith should draw rather than repel. But it is also to be seasoned with salt, which is to say it should have savor and substance, not be bland or empty or watered down to avoid all offense. Salt gives flavor and preserves; gracious speech seasoned with salt is kind but not spineless, warm but with real content, winsome but still saying something true. The two together form the manner of a good witness: neither the harsh, combative speech that wins arguments and loses people, nor the bland, agreeable speech that offends no one and says nothing. And the aim Paul gives is that we may know how to answer each person, which suggests attentiveness to the particular person in front of us, meeting them where they are rather than delivering the same rote lines to everyone. This is wise counsel for how believers speak among those who do not share their faith: graciously, so as to commend rather than repel; with salt, so there is real substance; and attentively, answering each one according to their need. How we speak either opens the door Paul prayed for or closes it.

Is my speech toward those outside the faith gracious, drawing rather than repelling, and yet seasoned with salt, having real substance rather than blandness, and do I attend to the particular person before me, seeking to answer each one well?