Fragrance of Life

We associate smells with different things. I love the smell of my husband—especially when he’s near. I love when my kids smell clean and lovely. I love the smell of my closest friends. I love the smell of my mother’s home.

I prefer for my home to smell lovely. At times, however, it just smells clean, and well, you can’t beat that! Sometimes, the smell reaches the level of vile socks that I never knew existed. Whatever the smell of my home, it certainly sets the tone for how I feel. What if we could set the tone for how others feel based on the fragrance we spread if that fragrance is Christ?

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 tells us, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.” In this passage, Paul was a little discouraged because he couldn’t find his friend, Titus. It’s a good reminder that even in our discouragement, we can be walk triumphantly in Christ sharing His fragrance everywhere. Where? Everywhere!

What is His fragrance? The fragrance of Christ is the gospel. Just like I have to be intentional of my personal body fragrance or the fragrance of my home, I have to be all the more intentional that I am the aroma of Christ to those around me—that aroma is the gospel clearly spoken and sweetly adorned by how I live. Remember dear friends, wherever you are to put on the fragrance of the gospel in word and deed to those around you. Be the aroma of Christ!

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?” 2 Cor. 2:14-16