In 2 Corinthians 2:14 we read, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.” In verse 15 it says, “For we are to God the aroma of Christ.” So many times, I’m not the aroma of Christ. Oh sure, it’s easy to live and be the fragrance of the Lord with other followers. But, how about when we are at home or at work? When we, so to speak, are ourselves and are around people who don’t believe the same, or when our tempers kick in, who do we smell like then? Are we stench to God? Our goal is to please God, our Heavenly Father, who gave up His son as a sacrifice to save us from eternal damnation. Jesus then gave up His life freely as a sacrifice to us and to save us from our sins. Now, what are we willing to sacrifice to Him for doing that? It’s so hard for us to give ourselves. But that’s exactly what is expected of us. We have to die to self. I heard a song once that talked about saying goodbye to me. I would like to try and be determined. If I find myself in a certain position where the old me wants to kick in, I’m going to make a conscious effort to say to myself, “Goodbye me” and to the best of my ability get out of that predicament. In many cases, it may be initially just walking away or going into another room. I want to be the aroma of Christ. Although we feel it is a beautiful smell, in verse 16 Paul says it is the, “Fragrance of life.” There are some people (non-followers) that don’t want anything to do with us because to them, the aroma is the smell of death. They smell that because you have to die-to-self to have the aroma of Christ. Don’t try to compromise. Even though we may be the smell of death to some, they realize our life is different from theirs and it makes them wonder, and even desire to know what’s different about us. They may even want what we have and that’s a great lead into bringing them to know about the Lord. Don’t use Christ as a hammer hitting people over the head with the knowledge of Him. Just be the “Fragrance of life” to them. Remember you can catch more bees with a sweet smell than you can with stench. God loves you!
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 02:43:58 +0000