“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through
us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the
fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are
perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading
to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is
sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word
of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in
Christ.”—2 Corinthians 2:14-17
In today’s society the word lenient has taken on the meaning of being tolerant of misbehavior,
or being lax. However, some years ago
the word was thought of as being merciful or compassionate and in some
dictionaries it was defined as an emollient.
If you are like me when I think of the word emollient, I think of
something that soothing. For example,
like a cream that you can put on dry skin.
I think that this is a good word for us to be reminded of,
as Christians. As Christians, we carry
the oil of the Holy Spirit that is soothing and healing. We are
carriers of mercy and compassion in a world that is in darkness. Darkness cannot comprehend what you and I as
Christians possess. As born-again
Christians, we are the light in the world.
Scripture tells us that, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the
beginning with God. All things
were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light
of men. And the light shineth in
darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:1-5). And then in Philippians
2:15 we find, “…, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”
I encourage you today to ponder what being lenient really means in Biblical
terms. A good place to start is studying
what is called the “Be Attitudes” in Matthew 5-7. There you will find the attitudes of an
emollient individual who knows that they are the salt of the earth and the light
of the world. As you ponder and study
these attitudes of a “lenient” Christian, your faith will grow stronger and the
gap will widen between light and darkness in your life.
Remember people are drawn to the light, so expect
opportunities to share the light that is in you with those who come near
you. You be that fragrant oil that
brings joy and gladness and brings soothing relief, in someone’s life.
Prayer—Heavenly Father I thank You for Your light living in me and for
the oil of Your Holy Spirit. I ask You
to help me today to bring Your sweet fragrance of love and peace into someone’s
life today, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
