Where is “that smell” coming from?

I enjoy the welcoming fragrance that fills those little gift shops dotted throughout shopping areas.  The pleasant aroma makes me want to linger and enjoy looking at whatever they are selling (great marketing). I secretly desire that my home would smell like that, but maybe not quite as strong!  Out of all of our five senses my sense of smell seems to work overtime.  With an extra sensitive nose I am always aware of how my home smells, and I cannot help but smile when it smells good. I have placed several scented candles and room fresheners throughout my home to keep it smelling fresh and welcoming – perhaps you do the same.  But when there is an offensive odor, I cannot rest until I have found the source. Maybe it is a rotten potato, or a wet towel in the laundry; I am determined to locate and eliminate the unpleasant odor ASAP.

Probably the most effective action that I can take to keep my home smelling fresh is to simply take out the trash.  Although this seems like a no-brainier, sometimes I forget to take it out, until it smells really bad! If I wait too long, washing the garbage can out with hot soapy water, and spraying it with Lysol becomes necessary.

There is another kind of trash that is common to us all.   A bad attitude or criticizing others has a stench of its own. When we act selfishly or choose un-forgiveness we become offensive.  Just like common household garbage, these attitudes need to be trashed on a daily basis.

Choosing to not take offense, refusing to be critical of ourselves and others, electing to act in an unselfish manner, and trusting the Lord to help us to be quick to forgive, will create a beautiful fragrance in our lives, and even help us sleep better!  Training our noses to detect, and our hearts to deal with the unsavory, will keep our lives fresh and free of offensive attitudes.

Just like the scent from those quaint little gift shops permeates the bag you take your purchase home in, likewise the fragrance of Christ is sure to permeate your life and hang around everything you do.

We spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. 2 Corinthians 2:14

The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.  Proverbs 27:9