Aromas
Mmmm – isn’t it nice to walk into a house with a wonderful aroma of freshly baked pie – blueberry, apple, or peach? Or how about when the stew has been cooking all day in the crock pot and the house smells of stew meat, potatoes, carrots, and onions. My sons love homemade cinnamon buns, and that aroma is so welcoming and enticing.
Aromas surround us every day–some are delightful and others are noxious. If you live in a city, like me, you’ll smell exhaust and garbage, but also wet grass after a rainstorm, and the smell of freshly baked bread from a bakery. In the country the aromas also abound, from flowers, to manure, to skunks (which we also have in the city!).
People also have aromas — we add nice scents, and mask unpleasant ones. But there is a more important aroma that cannot be detected with the nose. The Apostle Paul says “we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” in 2 Corinthians 2:15. We are a fragrance to those around us.
What is our aroma? I hope my aroma is one of kindness, gentleness, and forgiveness. Our culture has become so harsh and vitriolic of late that we need the aroma of Christ more than ever. We need a kind word, a gentle touch, a word of forgiveness. Every day in the news, on Twitter, or on Facebook, civil discourse collapses into mean attacks, and gentleness is viewed as weakness. As we live out our daily lives, a kind word is the aroma of Christ the world needs. A gentle touch to an older person, a young child, a teen, will make a difference. Extending and asking for forgiveness exudes the aroma of Christ. “We are” the aroma of Christ to those closest to us, our family and friends, to those we work with, and others we come in contact with day by day. May the aroma of Christ in us lead others to Him.
I so agree, Katie. The word has become harsh (but then again maybe it was always). We need be kind, gentle, and most importantly forgiving. May His aroma surround as so that others can smell the sweetness of our Lord.
“I hope my aroma is one of kindness, gentleness, and forgiveness.”
Ditto Katie. Thanks for sharing.