Smelling Like Jesus
By David Westlake

Most of us spend a great deal of time, energy and sometimes money on smelling right. We can smell things before we see them and smells can change our behaviour. Supermarkets waft the smell of fresh baked bread around the shop to make us buy it, and I can empty a room just by taking off my shoes.

Smell is powerful. This is why Paul wanted Christians to smell right. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2, he writes that we should all smell of Jesus to the people around us. In other words people should be able to get a sense of what Jesus is like just by being near us.

Now this is where it gets tricky because most of us are slightly unsure about how we are smelling. We are a bit like babies. Babies are cute and gorgeous and cuddly... and then they fill their nappies. There is nothing quite so powerful as a loaded nappy in a confined space. We do our best, we try to follow Jesus and smell like him to our friends and families... and then we get angry or sarcastic... and wham! - soggy nappy, funny smell. The thing is, it's okay for babies to fill their nappies when they are babies, but they do need to be potty trained. The smell needs to change.

In Galatians chapter 5, Paul begins to talk about this change. The imagery has changed from smells to fruit but the issue is still the same. Can people around me smell, see and taste Jesus in my lifestyle, my attitudes, my words? First of all he describes this fruit:

 "things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely!"
(Galatians 5 The Message)

The New International Version translates the same list as:

"love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
 
So the big question is - how do we get these qualities into our lives?

First, growing fruit, like potty training, takes time. There’s no magic wand that can do the job for us. The fruits of the spirit are about character and habit patterns, and these are not formed in an instant. They deal with how we react under pressure, how we cope with anger and lust and whether we keep promises. Time to change and grow is essential. Second, we can't do it on our own. Some of us with a lot of will-power can make a good attempt at looking like Jesus but only God can do the real thing. This is why he gave his Hoy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will change us to be more like Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Jesus and he has been given to Christians to enable us to be like Jesus. This includes becoming like him on the inside.

Fruit doesn't have to grow, it just does. God has promised that people who are close to him will develop these qualities in their lives, they just will. The Holy Spirit will change us to be more like Jesus.

Now, go back and read that last statement again. Galatians 5 puts it this way: 'But what happened when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard'. Maybe you want to pause for a moment and let the truth of that reality hit you. It's not how much will - power we have and it has nothing to do with how good or bad we have been. If we want to follow God he will develop the character of Jesus in us, simply because he loves Jesus and he loves us.

So, it is God's responsibility to change our character but he does ask that we co-operate with him in the process. In particular there are four ways in which we respond to God's work.

1. Looking at Jesus
At the end of 2 Corinthians 3, Paul describes a process where we become like Jesus as we see him:

"Whenever they turn to face God, God removes the veil and there they are - face to face! Nothing between God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face and us. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Him".

In other words, as we gaze on Jesus we become like him. We all know that we pick up the phrases and mannerisms of our friends; the same is true of Jesus. The more we gaze at him, the more he seems "to rub off" on us.

The easiest way of doing this is by worship. As we sing our love songs to Jesus and celebrate who He is and what He has done, then we catch His glory and become more and more like him. This is never truer than when we don't feel like worshipping. The Bible is just as important. As we read about God and how He acted and what he said in all kinds of different situations, then we understand more deeply who He is and what He is like. As this happens we become like Him.

2. Faithfulness to Jesus
The fruits of the Spirit are about character and so it is only when our characters are tested that we grow. The character test works like this. You are with some friends and they are slagging off another person. You are in a potential nappy situation. You can join in with them or you can choose to have the character of Jesus. It is through lots of seemingly little choices like this that the fruit of the Spirit seems to grow in our lives. The more we choose God's way, the more our characters change to be like him. God will bring us into situations where tests happen because they are the means that he uses to change us. Although they often seem stressful, they are actually gateways to great gain because God is ready to do great works in our lives when we decide to be faithful to Him.

3. Obedience to Jesus
One of the key ways in which God changes us is by asking us to do things. We then can choose whether or not we will obey him. God doesn't tell us to do things because he is on a power trip but because he is a good father who cares for us and wants the best for us. He knows how to potty train us and gives us instructions that are just right for us.

I had spent a summer at various Christian camps and was back at school. One day, as I was getting dressed to go to school, my eyes caught a Christian badge that someone had given me. It was a bit of a cringey badge that had the word Jesus printed in very large letters. I had spent some time praying that morning and I knew that Jesus was asking me to wear this badge to school. I mean I really knew that He was asking me to do it. I spent half an hour wrestling over whether I would wear this badge or not. In the end I didn't because I was too afraid for my reputation.

I had blown an obedience test.

This issue wasn't about a badge, it was about whether I was more concerned with doing what God said or for my reputation. Obedience in the little things leads to obedience in the big things. As we obey Jesus we become more like him. God our Father wants the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives. He wants us to smell like Jesus. He will do the hard work of changing us; all he wants us to do is cooperate with him in the process. Sometimes we take a long time to change. We stop worshipping, blow the character test and are disobedient. But he is faithful and never stops working with us. It's never too late to start potty training.

BACK TO RANDOM THOUGHTS PAGE: GO>>



^^BACK TO TOP^^