But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession.
Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 2 Cor. 2:14-15 (NLT)
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 2 Cor. 4:7 (ESV)
Heavenly Father, the Apostle Paul’s words describe how I want to live up till the Day Jesus returns. May the fragrance of Jesus and the aroma of grace be increasingly released through this fragile jar of clay. I don’t want to smell like “hurried,” “selfish,” “irritated,” or “judgmental.”
So, keep me in the place of humility and weakness, dependence and gentleness. That’s the best way for the perfume of the gospel to waft upward as an offering of praise, and outward for the benefit of others. Free me to love well, wherever I am, and with whomever I’m with.
As these Scriptures remind us, some people will experience your grace as life-giving; others will have the opposite response to the gospel. Help me love one and all alike, and not give up on anyone. Keep me believing the gospel can change anyone, anytime, anywhere. May the only offensive thing about me today be the gospel, especially on this 3 flight, long day of travel from Krakow, Poland, to Nashville, Tennessee.
By your Spirit, continue to slay the “approval suck” in me—my propensity to care too much about what people think and say about me. Keep my heart alive to every good thing we have in Jesus. Make my “in-Christ-ness” more real than anything else in the universe.
