The first rose—oh, the beauty! This one, exceptionally large
and pure in color, captivated me as I surveyed our emerging “rose garden” in
the front yard. For months after my
“winter prune” (knee high) and “spring prune” (down to skeleton stalks), there
wasn’t much beauty. Not so, now.
In God’s way of arranging coincidences, that same week I was
reading a devotional that cited 2 Corinthians 2, which makes much of the
contrast between the “aroma of Christ” and the “smell of death.” Verse 2 calls
that aroma “the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”
From time to time, one of the high-end department stores in
my town stuffs perfume samples in its newspaper ads. Sometimes I peel back the fold-over to
satisfy my curiosity about the scent. But I’m not tempted to buy. A sensitivity
to scents means being around someone who wears a lot of perfume can stir up my
asthma.
But being around someone who emanates the “aroma of Christ”
through their kind words and actions is different—and oh, how beautiful. The
devotional reminded me that God considers a life of sacrifice as a sweet perfume to Him. As I seek to live in a way that glorifies Him, a pleasant spiritual fragrance will emanate to others.
Whether we realize it or not, people are watching us. We don’t
always need Bible words to witness for Christ. I thought of that when I
received a not-pleasant letter from someone with emotional health issues. I
took heart over these few words amidst the letter’s negatives: “I believe you
are a kind person.”
I try to be. With
Christ’s help I try to be. But I am still in process of the School of Kindness
as Christ prunes me to bloom for Him.
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