we stink!

2 Corinthians 2

15 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.

16 To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom.

But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.

And who is adequate for such a task as this?

I remind myself of this occasionally that try as we might there are some people who are just not gonna want to be around us or connect with what we think or believe.

And that it doesn't have anything to do with us & everything to do with that fact that who we are, that we are connected to Jesus, & the Holy Spirit lives inside us.

I don't think that those who are so thoroughly uncomfortable with us would ever quantify their negative response to us as a negative response to God inside of us – that would mean acknowledging the presence & reality of someone & something that they don't buy in to.

That doesn't mean we should not continue to reach out to them with the love & power of God channeling through us.

It does help to know that sometimes it doesn't have anything to do with us & everything to do with their response to the Holy Spirit coming out of us.

This isn't a cop out or an excuse. Sometimes we affect people for those reasons & those reasons only.