What Do You Smell Like?
15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?
--2 Cor 2:15-16
I will admit that I occasionally forget to put deodorant on--usually in the winter because Iowans' sweat just freezes then anyway. But come summer, I won't forget because there's always the chance that it will be an incredibly hot and sticky day in Iowa. The kind of day when you ask, "How many swipes should I do of this deoderant stick today? Is it a 10 day or a 15 day?" The kind of day where you walk out your front door and you hit the proverbial "wall" of water. Breathing is difficult, your skin glistens with sweat just by standing still, and you tire easily from working under the weight of said "wall" of water.
I will admit to an occasionally Smelly Carrie Day, but I will get home and rush to the bathroom where my Dove is and use it. To smell good. I don't like smelling anything but good. Entire franchises are based on helping us smell good. I worked in one during a particular summer and could identify most every fragrance in the store with my eyes closed because I was continually surrounded by those scents. All the time.
In the Christian community, do we smell good to each other? And I'm not talking about dousing ourselves with Axe or the latest Victoria's Secret perfume. (Though those can smell good too...) Are we waking up in the morning thinking that we want to be the aroma of Christ? Are we going to make a stench today or are we going to be pleasing to the sense of those around us? Now, I'll also admit that there is a difference between "people pleasing" and "being pleasing" to those around us. I'm not asking anyone to compromise their ethics or moral code to "people please", but are we winning people to Christ because of our aroma? As Paul says, are we being "all things to all men so that they may come to know Christ"?
Can people around us identify us with their eyes closed because we're surrounding them with Christ's love or Christ's "scent"? Are we equal to such a task? I believe that with Christ's help, we most certainly are!
What is YOUR favorite scent (literal or metaphorical)? What is YOUR signature way of being Christ to others?
--2 Cor 2:15-16
I will admit that I occasionally forget to put deodorant on--usually in the winter because Iowans' sweat just freezes then anyway. But come summer, I won't forget because there's always the chance that it will be an incredibly hot and sticky day in Iowa. The kind of day when you ask, "How many swipes should I do of this deoderant stick today? Is it a 10 day or a 15 day?" The kind of day where you walk out your front door and you hit the proverbial "wall" of water. Breathing is difficult, your skin glistens with sweat just by standing still, and you tire easily from working under the weight of said "wall" of water.
I will admit to an occasionally Smelly Carrie Day, but I will get home and rush to the bathroom where my Dove is and use it. To smell good. I don't like smelling anything but good. Entire franchises are based on helping us smell good. I worked in one during a particular summer and could identify most every fragrance in the store with my eyes closed because I was continually surrounded by those scents. All the time.
In the Christian community, do we smell good to each other? And I'm not talking about dousing ourselves with Axe or the latest Victoria's Secret perfume. (Though those can smell good too...) Are we waking up in the morning thinking that we want to be the aroma of Christ? Are we going to make a stench today or are we going to be pleasing to the sense of those around us? Now, I'll also admit that there is a difference between "people pleasing" and "being pleasing" to those around us. I'm not asking anyone to compromise their ethics or moral code to "people please", but are we winning people to Christ because of our aroma? As Paul says, are we being "all things to all men so that they may come to know Christ"?
Can people around us identify us with their eyes closed because we're surrounding them with Christ's love or Christ's "scent"? Are we equal to such a task? I believe that with Christ's help, we most certainly are!
What is YOUR favorite scent (literal or metaphorical)? What is YOUR signature way of being Christ to others?