HOW DO YOU SMELL?

"But thanks be to God who always puts us on display in Christ, and spreads through us in every place the scent of knowing Him. For to God we are the fragrance of Christ...." II Cor. 2: 14, 15 (Holman)

Have you ever noticed that there are some people who just smell wonderful? Their cologne or perfume is just right...not overpowering or sickening, but just perfect. You long to linger in their presence because they smell so good.

Conversely, there are also those people who you wonder if they ever take a bath. You wouldn't exactly call it "fragrance"...more like stench. Or maybe they drown themselves in their perfume, thinking if a little is good, a lot would be wonderful, but alas, it is not. It is too much, too overpowering, to the point that you can't get far enough from them.

Some people also suffer from halitosis...bad breath. When they open their mouth to speak, you want to back up a few feet so as not to be seared by the aroma that proceeds from their mouth. Yet I'm sure we've all been guilty of that a few times in our life (hopefully not TOO often). Coffee breath, morning breath, garlic breath....YUK!

I do not think anyone purposely WANTS to smell bad, but many are not attentive to the fact that their "aroma" can turn people away or their "fragrance" can draw people to them.

Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says that we are to be the "fragance of Christ". What a picture that conjures up in my mind! Christ is SO sweet, so inviting, so wonderful that we WANT to be near Him. We want to linger in his presence. We want to get closer and closer to Him. So if we are to be the "fragrance of Christ", we must be just like that. Not overpowering nor a stench in the nostrils of those around us, but rather a sweet fragrance that draws others to our Savior.

In the same way, what comes out of our mouths should also be "fragrant", not vile or sharp or critical, not unkind or harsh. Maybe we need a little "Scripture Scope" to cleanse our mouths:

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for edification, that you may minister grace to the hearer" Ephesians 4:29

"Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music to the Lord in your heart, giving thanks always for everything..." Ephesians 5: 19, 20

"Heaviness in the heart of a man makes it stoop, but a good word makes it glad." Prov. 12: 25

"Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones." Prov. 16: 24

"Set a watch O Lord before my mouth, keep the door of my lips." Psalms 141: 3

Today as we prepare for our day, may we not only be mindful of our deodorent, our cologne and our mouthwash, but may we realize that we are on display as a representative of Christ and may we be a sweet fragance in the nostrils of every person we come in contact with.