ACE #155: What Scent Do You Leave Behind?

The other day my friend got in my car so that we could ride to Walmart.  She picked up a Bath & Body Works lotion bottle from my cup holder.  I told her that it was my daughter's lotion and that my kid has more scented lotion, perfume, and lip gloss than I have.  She took a sniff of it and said, "That is absolutely her lotion.  That's what she smells like all of the time!" 

It reminded me of when my former co-worker told me, "I always know when you've been in a room.  I can recognize your scent."  I asked her, "Uh...what scent is that?"  She responded,  "You always smell so sweet and fruity."  I just burst out laughing because I made every conscious effort to smell real good and to use all of my Bath & Body Works coupons.  As a matter of fact, I still do.  Fruity is my thing.  Flowery...not so much.

This really made me think about what "scent" we leave behind in a room after we've exited.  Is it a sweet aroma?  Is it a stench?  I'm not talking about our body odor; I'm talking about our attitudes.

There are just some people whose attitudes - just straight up - stink up a room.  They are always negative and mean-spirited.  One of my former co-workers from years back was one of the worst.  People would always run in the opposite direction when they saw her coming because she was always negative and never failed to stir up trouble.  Whatever people would talk about was sure to be repeated with a few things added to it and taken out of complete context.  She really thought she would come out "smelling like roses" all of the time, but people actually had her pegged.    

There are others like my deceased Aunt Shirley, aka Mrs. Wesley, who wore very strong, extremely recognizable perfume; yet it was her pleasant demeanor that really lingered in the atmosphere after she left a room.  (She's be gone four years and we can still smell her scent in her bedroom). There was just a genuine sweet spirit about her.  She truly exhibited the love of Jesus to those she encountered - even complete strangers.

Even in the midst of suffering, Jesus maintained a positive attitude.  He even asked for forgiveness for those who had sinned against Him.  We are to be like Christ...a pleasing aroma in any room and in any situation.  We must be cognizant of the "scent" we leave behind so that it doesn't ruin our witness for the Master.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life...

Ephesians 4:29
²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
     

 

Philippians 1:27

²⁷ Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit,^[a] striving together as one for the faith of the gospel

 

 

Philippians 2:5

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you leaving behind your 'Sintitude' or your 'Scenttitude'?