Excuse me, I smell?

We don't like rotten smells. 

We often do whatever we can to get rid of them.

We do enjoy lovely smells.

Lotions, perfumes, colognes, candles, air fresheners, soaps, detergents....People make good money on these items because they are important to other people. 

The key to getting rid of a bad smell is finding the ROOT of the problem. Covering it up simply isn't good enough.

In our lives (who we really are underneath it all) there are smells. 

They usually come across by way of our attitudes, words, and actions. They are rooted in our thoughts and desires. 

Sometimes, something is ROTTEN. We can hide it for a while. We even get very skilled at hiding our rottenness. But then, something or someone comes along and exposes us. 

We blow up with an outburst.

We throw a nasty look at someone. 

We retreat to sulk.

We get angry, upset, and rude. 

In that single moment, the "refrigerator door" is "opened" and the "smell" is made clear. 

Sometimes it goes away as soon as we calm down....Sometimes it just hangs in the air because it has gotten so out of hand.

Let's be honest. 

We are all rotten. We all have sin that overwhelms us at times.

The answer is to identify the rotten "thing". 

To hand it over to Jesus.

To set our hearts and minds on becoming more like Him. 

The point isn't to smell good. The point isn't even not to smell bad.

The point is to be pleasing to our God and so point people to who He is and what He does with the lives of those people who are His. 

These lives, these people, are still rotten. They still have moments of exposure.

But, these people are free to rest in the fact that they are not stuck in that sin.