What is Your Smell?

Smells. They are all around us. Some are not so good; burnt food, dirty clothes, sweat after a hard workout or a hard day of work or maybe poor hygiene, Some are good; a clean home, the air after a rain, spring flowers, many perfumes and colognes. Some of us are hyper-sensitive to the smells around us, some of us can hardly smell anything. Smells can warn us of impending danger, like burning wires and some can invite us into a welcoming space. We are aware of them. However, I think most often they just become a part of our world around us.  But did you know that scriptures talks about us being a smell?  It does. Read 2 Corinthians 2:15 “ For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which ascends] to God, [discernible both] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” Amplified Bible.  That’s an interesting thought, isn’t it?  We are the sweet fragrance of Christ. We, Christians, are the fragrance, the aroma, the smell of Christ in the world. Many times, I have had on a fragrance and someone has asked me what smells – in a good way. Not too long ago someone asked “What is that smell?  It’s yummy. Not in a food sense, it’s a good smell, what is it?”  It was the fragrance I was wearing.  Wearing that same fragrance, I was in a grocery store and standing in line. The woman in front of me turned and asked the same kind of question – “What are you wearing? I smelled it a little bit ago when we passed in the isle. What are you wearing, it smells so good?”  Here Paul is saying – we are more than just wearing the fragrance of Christ, we are the fragrance of Christ to God.  Meaning God can smell Christ in us and on us when we are intentional about being with Christ.  Only the one who has been born again, who is growing in grace, who is standing firm in the righteousness of Christ, who is surrendered to his leading and the guidance and counsel of the Holy Spirit has that fragrance of Christ to God.  What’s more – others, both Christians and non-Christians can smell Christ in and on us as well. It’s such an odd statement to make.  We are the fragrance, in another translation – we are the aroma of Christ in the world.  And, the more we grow in the grace of Christ, the closer we lean into Him, the more time we spend in His presence allowing Holy Spirit to grow the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), the stronger the fragrance of Christ becomes. Is it a smell picked up by our olfactory abilities?  No, it’s the spiritual fragrance of the Holy Love of Christ that is picked up by other’s spirits. It’s not something that we can fake or manufacture on our own.  It is only when we have been in the presence of Christ that we begin to acquire His fragrance and wear it as our own. So, I wonder what smell we are giving off in the spiritual realm?  Is it one that is pleasing to God and has the ability to draw all people to Christ? Let’s make sure to spend time with Him so that our fragrance is always honoring and pleasing to God!