Nancy Hughes: The sniff test

“For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” II Corinthians 2:15 (NIV)

As I walked through the door after spending the day with a good friend, my daughter hugged me and said, “I know who you have been with today.” 

I smiled and said “Oh, really? How do you know that?” and it was her turn to smile. 

“I can smell the perfume she always wears,” she told me. And she was right. Even though I didn’t realize it, I had the fragrance of my friend’s perfume on me because I had been with her all day.

In the same way, a week later I carpooled to an out-of-town meeting with a group of ladies – all of whom smoked. I changed my clothes when I got home and threw them in the laundry room. Later, as I walked into the utility room I thought “Where in the world is that cigarette smell coming from?” and instantly realized that it was my clothes from the drive that day.

How do those two different “fragrances” fit with II Corinthians 2:15? If I am the “pleasing aroma of Christ” to the people around me, as it says, there should never be a single doubt that I belong to Him. The fragrance of love and mercy, compassion and forgiveness should cover me from my head to my toes. No one should ever be with me and ask themselves, as they walk away if I am a follower of Christ.

Conversely, if I live by a fragrance that is not of Christ but is of this world, will people know that, too? Sure they will. Just as I hadn’t even realized that I smelled like cigarette smoke because I had become accustomed to the smell after a day in it, I can get used to being angry or negative or prideful or jealous, and that “fragrance” will be what people hear and see.

My encouragement comes directly from the above Scripture. We need to have the “pleasing aroma of Christ” whether we are stuck in traffic, standing in line at the grocery store or visiting our friends at church. And the only way to have that beautiful fragrance is to spend time in the presence of God, reading His Word. If we do that daily, the fragrance of Christ will be with us wherever we go.

Father, teach me to be the pleasing fragrance of Jesus, no matter where I am or what I am doing. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

Can you think of situations when you were not a pleasing aroma to the Lord?

What do you think the people around you thought about your “fragrance?”

Apply

Journal two columns labeled “pleasing fragrances” and “unpleasant aromas.”

Now keep track of your conversations and actions for a week by placing them under one of the columns. Which column has more entries? Pray about changes you need to make.

Power

II Corinthians 2:15 (NIV) “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”

Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV) “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Philippians 4:18b (NIV) “They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”