Are you a perfume of life and an odor of death? Let us hope you are both, because you should be both. Read 2 Corinthians 2:14-16. This passage says that for the people who are saved — the believers — that we should smell like the perfume of life. Why? Because we point to life, we point to hope, we point to Jesus. This is a sweet aroma, a pleasing aroma — the aroma of Christ. If we are believers and we are abiding in Christ, we will be the sweet pleasing aroma. Not only will God notice the pleasing aroma, but those around you will also notice.
At this same time, we would also be a deadly stench. Why both? To the believers, to the people who have received Jesus and eternal life, we are a beautiful sweet smelling aroma, an aroma of victory of Jesus. Yet for unbelievers who are living on a wide path to death, your life will put off a deadly stench. People will be confronted with the Truth you stand for in Christ Jesus — the Word of God. People will be convicted of sins and awaiting impending judgment.
As we pray today, we cannot help but question if we are both smells. Are you a sweet pleasing aroma to God? Are you also a deadly stench? You should be both or something needs addressed. If you are not a pleasing aroma, you are not pointing to life. If you are not a pleasing aroma, you are not pointing to Jesus. This is one problem. It means you are not abiding in Him. Additionally, if you are not a deadly stench, you are not standing firm for Truth and you are not confronting sin. So I ask you – how are you smelling today?
Father, thank You for Your goodness and Your faithfulness. Lord, we seek You today. We want You to receive all honor and glory. In Jesus’ Name. Amen!
“God always makes His grace visible in Christ, who includes us as partners of His endless triumph. Through our yielded lives He spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go. We have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of the Anointed One to God—a perfume of life to those being saved and the odor of death to those who are perishing. The unbelievers smell a deadly stench that leads to death, but believers smell the life-giving aroma that leads to abundant life. And who of us can rise to this challenge?” – 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 [TPT]
Tania Gutekunst 