The sense of smell has to be my favorite of all the senses. I jokingly share I am in scent overdrive because growing up as a child, my mother was severly allergic to fragrances and our family had a strict no scent lifestyle. EVERYTHNG we purchased and used was labeled "unscented' - what a sad and lonely word! Memories of passing people in the store with a lingering fragrance still make me smile.
When I got married and had my own home, scents became my love language. I wanted to smell good and wanted an aroma all through my home, laundry, car etc. Candles, plug ins, fabric softener are frequently used and the stronger fragrance is always chosen.
There is even a Bible verse that speaks of the beauty of an aroma - II Corinthians 2:15 "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life."
But everyone takes scent differently. During gatherings at my home, there have been several candles lit, creating a beautiful atmosphere, when someone walks in and cannot breathe. Perfume can be overwhelming. Highly scented laundry detergent causes reactions to those with sensitive skin. Apparently, sometimes, less is best! This realization hit home recently from my mail carrier.
Being a frequent card mailer, to add a special touch, I would place the cards in a ziplock bag with a cotton ball dabbed with essential oil. Doesn't everyone want to receive a scented letter? By leaving the card in the bag, the fragrance soaks in and permeates the card. One day, a note from the mail carrier was left in the mailbox. Word for word it said..."Please, Please, Please ... no perfume on letters. Thanks." Message received. Not everyone loves to be saturated with fragrance. It can be overwhelming and unwanted. My role is to be sensitive and lower the scent dial down a notch.
A recent devotion about leadership reminded me of some similarities of the overbearing infuence of scent. Leadership involves a lot of “doing.” We set goals, make plans, schedule, help train others, organize files, order workbooks, facilitate activities and groups—you name it, a leader is doing it. I am a natural 'doer'. Give me a handful of projects to do and let me flutter around to get them done. But in all the busyness of “doing,” there is an important element of leadership we want to be careful not to forget. It’s about “being” not “doing”—being the person of character, who bears the fruit of the Spirit in their life. The focus is on being someone who more and more resembles the Lord we are seeking to know better, spending time with and allowing His Word to permeate every aspect of life. (That works better than the cotton ball dabbed with essential oil!).
Developing, deepening, and sharing that spiritual place is what our Christian walk, especially as leaders, is all about. Today more than ever we need moral purity and visible godly character in our role as leaders. We can be busy doing outside leadership and neglect what’s taking place within us—our inner leadership. Daily prayer and daily reading His Word are foundational to a stronger spiritual place. Being doers of His Word and not hearers only is not only a good idea, it’s a biblical directive. He wants us to be of a certain character and then to live that out in our day-to-day lives. Doing so makes us even more effective as leaders.
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Thank you for sharing your commment. It is a joy and blessing to hear from you and your words are appreciated.