Aroma of Victory

While walking at the mall, I smelled something sweet — I could not quite identify if it was cotton candy or cinnamon sugar, but, oh my, it really smelled wonderful. The pleasant scent caused me to search for the source of the aroma. My friend and I walked hurriedly throughout the multi-level mall, sniffing the air as we walked, searching the most obvious areas, the food court, pretzel store, and the perfume store, until finally we found the source of the smell! It was a small, hidden, flame-less, strawberry pound cake-scented candle that had been lit and placed outside the Bath and Body Works store.

We told the clerk we could smell the scent throughout the building! She said, “I guess it is doing it’s job then.”

This experience reminded me of the Scripture in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15. The Passion Translation says, “God always makes his grace visible in Christ, who includes us as partners of his endless triumph. Through our yielded lives he spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go. We have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of the Anointed One to God — a perfume of life to those being saved and the odor of death to those who are perishing.”

What kind of aroma does my life have as I go everywhere? Is it a sweet smelling perfume that pleases God and those around me? Do my actions, words and life cause others to want to know the source of the aroma? How well do I represent Christ, the One who is victorious? Is my testimony one of triumph and victory as I am lead by Christ?

These are questions that come to mind as I reflect on the above Scripture, and can be answered differently depending on the quality of a relationship with Christ. You see, when Christ is the center of my life — instead of myself being the center — then, I am willing to yield myself to Him and His ways, even when life is difficult or challenging.

When my life is yielded to Christ, my actions and words imitate Him and align with God’s Word, then the sweet aroma of time spent knowing and loving God, follows me everywhere.

My friend, Kent, is a great example of having the aroma of the victory of Christ. He loves and serves God even though he is suffering with stage 4 colon cancer and the many challenges the cancer has caused. Kent is living from a place of triumph and victory because of his personal relationship with Jesus Christ despite the pain and suffering. Kent is not defeated, hopeless or joyless. He is living above the circumstances in his life because of the work of Christ in his life. He is yielding his life to Christ day by day. Kent has a strawberry pound cake kind of testimony and he shares it everywhere he goes. I want my testimony to be one of victory and triumph as I trust and yield my life to Jesus, no matter what comes my way.

How about you? Is your testimony one of triumph and victory? How has your relationship with Christ affected how you handle adversity? I would love to hear from you. Share in the comments section or contact me at VianneSatterfield55@gmail.com.